PATNA: A Bangladeshi national, identified as Babu Joe Barua alias Rajiv Dutta, was arrested at Gaya Airport in Bihar while attempting to flee to Thailand, police reported on Sunday.
Acting on a specific tip-off, a police team detained Barua at the Gaya airport when he was about to board a flight to Thailand.
He was staying in India as a Buddhist monk and living in a monastery in Gaya for the last 10 years.
Gaya senior superintendent of police Ashish Bharti said that the security personnel at the airport were alerted after information about a Buddhist monk trying to board a flight for Thailand was received. He was living in Indian territory without a valid passport and visa, investigating officials said.
“The documents recovered from the arrested Bangladeshi citizen have been found to be fake. Subsequently, a case was registered at Magadh Medical police station in Gaya. A lookout notice was issued against him earlier,” the investigating officer, requesting anonymity, said.
On Sunday, officials of different central and state intelligence agencies questioned the Bangladeshi citizen. An alert has also been sounded across the district after the arrest of the foreign national.
During interrogation, he confessed to the crime and revealed that he was a Bangladeshi citizen but living in Indian territory for eight years.
He was found in possession of multiple passports under different names, along with various documents, including an Aadhaar card and a PAN card.
Additionally, authorities also recovered foreign currencies totalling 1,560 Thai Baht, 5 Euros, 411 US dollars, and also Rs 3,800 in Indian currency.
The accused has been booked under sections 318 (4), 336 (3), and 340 (2) of Bhartiya Nyay Sahita (BNS) and Indian Passport Act 12.