‘Illegally crossing over from Bangladesh’: Chinese national remanded in West Bengal

A court in West Bengal's Malda district has remanded Chinese national Han Junwe, who was arrested after illegally crossing over from Bangladesh, in police custody for six days.

Sources said police had pleaded for seven-day custody in the court on Saturday but got it for six days. He would be produced in the court again on June 18, according to Assistant Public Prosecutor Mehtab Alam.

Han, 35, was apprehended by the BSF on Thursday for illegally entering through the India-Bangladesh border and booked by police on Friday under the Foreigners Act, our New Delhi correspondent reports.

After the BSF handed over the intruder to West Bengal police at the nearest border outpost Kaliachawk, Han was questioned by Indian security agencies -- including the top-anti-terror probe body National Investigation Agency and Anti-Terrorism Squad.

According to investigators, Han claimed he had entered India four times earlier and ran a hotel on lease in Gurgaon for a year and a half with an Indian partner.

During interrogation, Han Junwe also revealed that he reached Dhaka on June 2 on a business visa and stayed in the Bangladeshi capital with a Chinese friend before moving to border district Chapainawabganj on June 8.

Malda Superintendent of Police Alok Rajoria said, "We have taken him (Han) into custody. We may seek help and will take the assistance of more security agencies if required."