Missing Chinese Woman: A spy story that never was!

PTI, PATNA, DECEMBER 31, 2022: Mysterious Chinese woman suspected of spying on the Dalai Lama screamed media outlets in Bihar on the day His Holiness began his annual discourses at Bodh Gaya, returning to the pilgrim town after a gap of two years.

As the word went out that police has released sketches of Song Xiaolan, gaunt and scalp covered with closely cropped hair, along with her passport and visa numbers, headline hunters could have been excused for thinking that they had found something "big".

However, after a thorough investigation, police found that it was a simple case of a lady who had inadvertently overstayed in the country on an expired visa. 

"She has been slapped with a Leave India notice following visa violation. We are going to hand her over to the authorities concerned for repatriation", said J S Gangwar, Additional Director General of Police(Headquarters), as he sought to ward off queries from journalists who were refusing to believe that it was a case of much ado about nothing