Three restrained for ‘invite’ to Germans: The trio had been “restrained” at the resort like the Germans, not detained, the officer said. The trio cannot move out without police permission, he added.

The police had said on Friday that the seven Germans had reached KNP, Assam’s leading tourist destination, on October 26

The police had said on Friday that the German tourists had also travelled to Tinsukia and Margherita in upper Assam’s Tinsukia district before reaching KNP, about 190km from Guwahati,

Umanand Jaiswal   |   TT  |  Guwahati   |   30.10.22 : Seven German tourists who were “restrained” at a resort in Assam for “indulging in missionary activities in violation of visa norms” will be deported from Delhi on Sunday but three persons accompanying them, including an evangelist from Jharkhand, continue to face questioning by police.

A senior police officer told The Telegraph that the German tourists left for Guwahati from the resort at Kaziranga National Park (KNP) on Saturday morning after paying a fine of $500 (Rs 41,143) each for violation of visa rules.

“They flew to Delhi this morning after paying the fine. They will be deported by tomorrow afternoon. All seven have been blacklisted, which means they won’t be allowed to enter India again. They won’t be able to apply for visa for violation of norms. The blacklisting will be done by the Centre on the recommendation of the state government,” the officer said.

The police had said on Friday that the seven Germans had reached KNP, Assam’s leading tourist destination, on October 26. They then left for Karbi Anglong district where they “participated in missionary activities in violation of visa norms for tourists”.

However, one of the German tourists had told a TV channel they were “not spreading” any gospel. “We visited some churches and spoke to some Christian people,” he had said.

The police had said on Friday that the German tourists had also travelled to Tinsukia and Margherita in upper Assam’s Tinsukia district before reaching KNP, about 190km from Guwahati, “in connection with missionary activities but not conversion”.

An evangelist from Jharkhand and two persons from Assam who had accompanied the Germans are being questioned at the KNP resort. The names of the trio and other details were not disclosed.

“Apparently, all the seven people (Germans) came on their recommendation. We are looking into how they (Germans) were called and what all happened and transpired. Can’t disclose their names. The person from Jharkhand is an evangelist and the other two are similarly related (with the Germans’ visit),” the police officer said. 

The trio had been “restrained” at the resort like the Germans, not detained, the officer said. The trio cannot move out without police permission, he added.

This is the second case of “visa rule violation” in Assam involving tourists from European nations since Wednesday when three Swedish nationals were “examined” for the alleged crime by the Dibrugarh police.

The Swedish trio were also allowed to leave for their deportation from Delhi after paying a fine of $500 each in accordance with a circular issued under the Foreigners Act. All “proceedings” against the Swedish trio, who had been invited by two Church-based organisations to attend a prayer and healing programme at Naharaktia in Dibrugarh district, were dropped.

Another senior police officer said on Saturday that altogether 27 foreign tourists — 17 from Bangladesh, seven from Germany and three from Sweden — had been fined in Assam for visa norm violations since September.

He said the police had been asked to keep a close watch on possible proselytisation. Both Karbi Anglong and Tinsukia districts have Christian presence. The community accounts for 3 per cent of the state’s about 3.2-crore population.