VISAKHAPATNAM/BHUBANESWAR:Ahead of the International Fleet Review in Visakhapatnam from February 4, five Iranian nationals were on Wednesday detained by the Visakhapatnam rural police near Nakkapalli in the district. They were intercepted on suspicion after Andhra police received a communication from Odisha police about terror suspects fleeing a hotel in Bhubaneswar on Monday night when the staff sought identity proof.
Their photographs were matched and they turned out to be the same set of people who had fled from the hotel near the Bhubaneswar Railway Station.
Sources said the suspects were travelling from Bhubaneswar to Chennai but failed to elaborate on the purpose of their visit.
According to a source, the police were checking vehicles at a tollgate when a car with a Delhi registration number sped away without stopping. After a brief chase, the police intercepted the car. On questioning, the suspects produced some documents but their authenticity could not be verified.
An STF team from Odisha is on its way to bring the five persons to Bhubaneswar to ascertain why they had fled the hotel where they wanted to check in.
Preliminary investigation revealed the five had started their journey from Delhi around January 5-6 and they toured Rajasthan, Haryana, UP and Assam before entering Odisha.
In a related incident, three other Iranian citizens were detained in Bargarh in Odisha.
