Patna, May 16: The Union home ministry has issued a fresh directive to the state government, seeking to know if the presence of 10 French tourists who were deported in April posed any threat to the internal security.

The ministry also sought information on the absence of one of the visiting tourists, Altai Rose Gwendoline Bernard, from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. Bernard was issued a visa after she got a job offer in Bhopal. She was part of the 10-member team visiting Bihar on April 18.

The home department (Bihar), in turn, shot off a letter to director-general of police Abhayanand, seeking a detailed report on the visit of the 10 French nationals to Maoist hotbeds in Jamui and Nawada districts in April.

The state police headquarters, in its report submitted to the home department on Monday, explained the circumstances under which the tourists were deported from Bihar.

“We have categorically said that their (foreign tourists) presence posed a serious threat to the internal security as they were spotted moving in deep forests and attending meetings with farmers in remote areas,” a senior police officer said.

The officer, who did not wish to be identified, said the foreign tourists did not even bother to inform the local police about their visit to Maoist-hit areas of Jamui and Nawada.”

They were intercepted by police while proceeding towards Quadirganj in Nawada, another influential pocket of the rebels,” he added.

The French tourists, whose visit was part of Bharat Samvad Yatra launched by a non-government organisation Ekta Parishad, reached Bihar on April 18 and spent three days in Jamui and Nawada. They were escorted to Patna after being tipped-off by the ministry about their suspicious activities.

Those deported have been identified as Antonine Bouhey, Yvon Dissez, Claudeine Leroy, Nathalie Naulet, Arnaud Pupet, Marie Odile Renault Veuve Barbier, Berangere Stoup, Ludivine Trevet and Altai Rose.

The earlier police report sent to the ministry through the state home secretary, contained details about the movement of the French tourists and their activities in the forest areas of Nawada and Jamui districts in violation of their tourist visa norms.

Sources said that before deportation, each French national was issued a showcause notice. The deportation order was notified as eight of them ignored the notices while the two replies were found to be unsatisfactory. Subsequently a police team escorted them to Patna airport where they took a flight to New Delhi on April 24.