A 41-year-old Russian, identified as Igor Babko has been nabbed in Mizoram.
Reportedly, he entered the Rajiv Nagar village in Mamit district bordering Tripura and Bangladesh from Kanchanpur town of North Tripura District.
Babko was not having the mandatory Protected Area Permits (PAPs) and was nabbed by the BSF personnel who handed him over to the Mamit district Police in Mizoram.
Police say they have no independent confirmation on the allegations of the Russian’s links with the Bangladeshi terror group, Parbattya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) headed by Santu Larma in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). "We deported him from Aizawl to Assam riding on his bicycle. He has a flight ticket to travel from Delhi to Tokyo on May 4,” a police source said.
Meanwhile, Mizoram police say the six Ukrainians and one American, arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) "did not enter Mizoram by flight".
He said the foreigners entered the state from Assam via border Vairengte town in a car driven by a Mizo who told the Police personnel on duty that he was not carrying any non-tribal who require to have Inner Line Permits (ILPs).
The PAP is checked only at the Lengpui airport at Aizawl by officials of the central agencies and not in other entry points.
Even the Railway Station at Sairang in the western outskirts of Aizawl city do not have such facilities and this issue is being looked into.
Sources maintain that inordinate delays in issuance of Protected Area Permits (PAPs) to foreigners who want to visit Mizoram often create grey areas for a large number of foreigners entering the state without proper documents.
The PAP is required to be obtained by foreigners who want to visit sensitive border regions of the north-east - Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, and Nagaland.
Non-Mizos or Non-Nagas but Indian citizens from other states need ILPs.
The Protected Area Regime (PAR) was relaxed for sometime but the central government re-imposed the regime from December 17, 2024 due to security concerns.
The PAP is issued by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) through online.
Another individual - the 53-year-old Slovak who was nabbed at Laki village of south Mizoram’s Siaha district bordering Myanmar last week.
Reportedly, the Slovak had landed in Aizawl and was proceeding towards the southern part of the state to enter Myanmar where he was invited to participate in a festival.
He was deported by police via Lengpui airport, Aizawl.
There is an apparent attempt to shift the 'blame' if any.
One source said - "If any foreigner is entering Mizoram by road via Assam, the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel guarding the Assam-Mizoram interstate border should check whether they are having PAP or not".
Meanwhile, on March 29th, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has stated that the six Ukrainians and the lone American arrested by the NIA sleuths were 'not security threats' to India per se.
Shah stated that the group was attempting to use India as a transit route to enter Myanmar via Mizoram for terror training at insurgent bases.
“They were caught as they were planning to transit through Mizoram into Myanmar, where insurgent bases would be used to impart training to the Ukrainians. They did not take the necessary advance permit required by foreigners to enter Mizoram,” he said.
This was the first official confirmation that the foreign mercenaries' focus was Myanmar, with India serving only as a passage.
“No threat was posed to India’s security. It is our policy that any foreigner who visits India for any wrong act will not be spared,” Shah said.
ends
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