Canadian national held for entering India without visa

Time of India

17-05-2025

Motihari: A Canadian national was arrested by the Sashashtra Seema Bal (SSB) at the Maitri bridge near the integrated customs check post in Raxaul at the India-Nepal border on Friday evening while attempting to enter India from Nepal without a valid visa.
The Raxaul police have lodged an FIR against him under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025. He was sent to jail on Saturday.
The man, identified via his passport as Harprit Singh, was travelling from Nepal by taxi. According to immigration officials, he was detained by SSB personnel at the gate of the customs check post and handed over to immigration authorities for further verification.
During interrogation, Harprit disclosed that he was a native of Kapurthala in Punjab.
He said he had been working as a labourer in Canada for the past 11 years before returning to his village via Mumbai in Feb 2023. Since then, he said, he had remained in India. He later decided to return to Canada via Nepal and travelled to Kathmandu by taxi, but was denied an air ticket for not holding a valid Nepalese visa.
Kishan Kumar Paswan, station house officer (SHO) of Raxaul police station, said, "Harprit has a Canadian passport but does not have a visa for India.
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In such a situation, it is highly suspicious and a matter for investigation."
A senior official from a security agency posted at the Raxaul border said, "How he got Canadian citizenship while being an Indian citizen is under scrutiny. According to information, Harprit had been staying in Nepal for a long time with some objective."
Last week, Khalistani separatist Kashmiri Singh Galwaddi from Ludhiana, Punjab, who had been hiding in Nepal for the past two years, was arrested near Motihari by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Security agencies suspect that Harprit may have been in contact with Galwaddi during his time in Nepal. Nepalese police are also investigating the case to assist their Indian counterparts, sources said.
Following Operation Sindoor, the 1,751-km-long India-Nepal border has been under heightened surveillance to prevent infiltration. Suspicious people are being closely monitored.
According to Intelligence Bureau sources, over 12 terrorists from Bangladesh and Pakistan are attempting to enter Bihar via Nepal, but Indian security forces remain on high alert.
It may be recalled that four Chinese nationals and an American were arrested at the Raxaul immigration office within a fortnight. In the past year, six other Chinese nationals have also been arrested at Raxaul.