Srinagar: A Chinese national was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police for visiting The Union Territory and Ladakh without necessarily permission. The 29-year-old also seemed to show a lot of interest regarding CRPF deployment in the Valley, raising further suspicion about the actual purpose of his visit.
According to what officials told PTI, an “unusual chatter” on the Internet was intercepted by the Army after which security agencies in the Kashmir valley were alerted about it.
Hu Congtai arrived in Delhi on a tourist visa and had permission to visit only Buddhist religious places in Varanasi, Agra, New Delhi, Jaipur, Sarnath, Gaya and Kushi Nagar, itbhas been reported.
Congtai, however, took advantage of his resemblance to the local population in Ladakh and flew to the region on November 10, without registering at the Foreigners Regional Registration Office counter located at the Leh airport.
Investigations reveal that he toured the Zanskar region for three days and visited other places of importance. From there, he flew to Srinagar on December 1, officials have been quoted as saying.
While the police searched his phone history, it came to light that he had been looking for the deployment of CRPF in the Valley.
After landing in Srinagar, Congtai allegedly put up at an unregistered guest house and visited Buddhist religious place at Harwan, where a Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist was killed in an encounter last year. He also arranged for an Indian SIM card from the open market.
The Chinese national also visited the Awantipur ruins located near Victor Force headquarters of the Army in South Kashmir and Shankracharya hills, Hazratbal, and Mughal Garden along the Dal Lake while in Srinagar, the police said.
Not only was he interested in knowing about CRPF deployments, he also searched for information on Article 370 – that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir – before being abrogated in August 2019, a search of his phone revealed.
