The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) arrested a Ukrainian citizen from the Indo-Nepal border along East Champaran district in Bihar for overstaying his visa on Wednesday.
The man was trying to enter from the Nepal side without possessing valid documents, but claimed that he was staying at Mayapur in Bengal.
The man, identified as Bondarenko Borys, was carrying a “single entry” Indian visa that was issued to him on December 6, 2023, for a stay of 90 days, and had expired on March 5, 2023.
The SSB officials handed him over to the Haraiya police station after preliminary enquiry for further action. An FIR has been registered against him and further investigations are under way.
“Prima facie, it seems that the Ukrainian citizen was staying illegally in India. He has given the address of a lodge at Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Road at Mayapur in Bengal. He had gone to Nepal as a tourist and also to receive and exchange money from his country,” East Champaran superintendent of police (SP) Swarn Prabhat told
The Telegraph.
The SP added that Bondarenko claimed his Ukrainian mobile SIM card did not work in India, hence he visited Nepal where it functioned. He would connect to the mobile network, receive money and convert it into Indian currency.
However, sources in the police said that they were verifying his statement because the availability of seamless internet connection across the countries have made receiving or exchanging money very easy, and could be done from anywhere.
Bondarenko was produced before the local court and was forwarded to jail.