Eight Taiwanese nationals arrested in HP, could be Chinese spies
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http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/eight-taiwanese-nationals-arrested-in-himachal/1/200561.html
In a major crackdown, Mandi police on Tuesday night arrested eight Taiwanese nationals for visa violaton. The arrested Taiwanese nationals, the police said, worked as carpenters and masons at an under construction palatial structure at a remote village in Mandi district, 150 kms from Shimla, owned by a Tibetan woman named Palki, alias Dolma.
The police had earlier said that those arrested were Chinese nationals.
Expired tourist visas have been recovered from the arrested Taiwanese nationals who had entered Mandi district in April and May this year. The police are investigating whether they are masons or Chinese spies as the arrests have been made just a few days after Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama had said that China has trained women to poison him.
"It is too early to say that the arrested people are Chinese spies. We are taking all intelligence inputs seriously so that the security of the Dalai Lama is not compromised in any way. We are investigating the case as they had not reported to the police and had no work visa," S R Mardi, additional director-general of police, said.
Police recovered Indian currency worth Rs.30 lakh from two chests kept in a room, besides one Chinese currency note. The third chest was found empty with rubber bands apparently used to tie bundles of currency notes. Sources said Dolma, who probably got wind of the raid, managed to escape with the foreign currency. Besides the currency, cops also recovered a computer notebook, Chinese SIM cards, international ATM cards and Taiwanese documents.
The raid, which started on Tuesday night, continued till Wednesday evening.
After getting intelligence input, a police team headed by Mandi's additional SP Ravinder, along with the local panchyat president Kishori, entered the under-construction structure around 3.30 pm on Tuesday. The structure is surrounded by a 15 foot wall.
As they entered the premises, the police found two minor Bihari labourers. The site, the police said, was being guarded by as many as eight 'foreign' dogs.
Caretaker of the site Chetan, a Tibetan, first tried to mislead the police by saying that there was no money in the house. They were forced to enter the structure through a balcony.
The ultra modern structure has a number of sensors fitted at different places and the door of the washroom is controlled by a remote. The construction work is being done by a Dharamshala-based contractor, who is also on the run.
"Police received information that a house in Chauntra near Jogindernagar has suspected property and persons. During search eight persons were found working as carpenters and painters in the under construction house. All of them were having Republic of China passport and a tourist visa. None of them complied with section 7 of the Foreigners' Act. All eight were booked and arrested. We've recovered Rs.30 lakh and a case under Essential Commodities Act, Excise Act and Income Tax Act has been registered. We are investigating the case," Abhishek Dular, SP, Mandi, said.
The Taiwanese nationals were on Wednesday produced in Jogindernagar court and have been remanded in police custody for three days. The police is facing language problem as the accused only speak Chinese or Taiwanese language.
This is the second case when currency worth lakhs of rupees has been found from Tibetan refugees. Between January 26 and 28 this year, currency worth Rs. 70 million (12,01,97 Chinese yuan, $ 6,47, 396 and 6,900 US dollars, travellers' cheques, 6,42,740 Hongkong dollars, 742,900 Taiwanese dollars, 4,21,892 Nepalese rupees , Indian currency worth Rs.53, 65, 265 besides the currency of Singapore, Australia, UK, Bhutan, Indonesia, Germany and some other countries) was recovered from the monastry of Karmapa.
"It is a serious security concern. Some Chinese had escaped from the spot. The matter should be jointly probed by the central and state security agencies," Prem Kumar Dhumal, the chief minister, said.
Despite refugee status, Tibetans continue to buy properties in Himachal Pradesh where even Indian citizens cannot buy land without government permission.
Why would a Taiwanese national work as Mason in India? and carry along a huge amount of cash with them.. They are still the suspects.. They obviously will lie about their intentions..
