Bangladeshi held in India on charges of espionage

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) detained  a Bangladeshi national from near Lepcha check-post of Spiti close to the India-China border on suspicion of espionage in the area on 4 May, reports The Times of India.

Quoting an Indian police officer, the Indian media on Tuesday said that the detainee disclosed him as Mohammad M Hussain and claimed that he is a Bangladeshi.

"He doesn't have any travel document, permission to visit the area and personal identity proof. He said his name is Mohammad M Hussain. We are interrogating him to get more details," Lahaul-Spiti superintendent of police Raman Kumar Meena was quoted as saying.

It said the ITBP apprehended the Bangladeshi while he was sleeping in the border area.

Border Police later handed the detainee over to the Spiti police for further investigation, the report added.

The report claimed the Bangladeshi was allegedly pretending to be a dumb and tried to convince cops that he hailed from Thane in Maharashtra, the TOI added.

Police were shocked seeing his prowess over Hindi, English and Bengali. He eventually disclosed he was a Bangladeshi, the report also claimed.

The report also said he was booked on charges of sedition and breaching national security.