No way 7 foreigners slipped through airport: Mizoram cops

Aizawl: A senior Mizoram Police department official on Friday said that if the 7 foreigners, arrested by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) accusing them of being mercenaries, entered Mizoram and crossed the Myanmar border they must have entered the state by train of by road, not by flight.The official told TOI that no foreigners can leave the lone Lengpui airport without having Protected Area Permit (PAP) as the state Police officials and the officials of the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB) thoroughly check all the incoming foreigners amongst the passengers for PAP.“The state Police officials not only checked inner line permits (ILPs) for non-tribal Indians at the arrival section of the Lengpui airport, but also undertake checking of PAPs for foreigners,” the official said, adding that there is no way 6 Ukrainians and an American could pass through the arrival section of the airport without having PAPs.He opined that the foreigners might have come to Mizoram by train where only ILP is checked at present or by road via Assam, Manipur or Tripura. One SIB officer said they have received information that those foreigners might have crossed Assam-Mizoram border at Vairengte town by disguising themselves as Indian citizens.The state Police officials had earlier said they had no confirmation about these foreigners imparting weapons and drone training inside Chin state of Myanmar as alleged by the NIA. “We have tried everything from our contacts both in Mizoram and Chin state of Myanmar, but the allegations are yet to be confirmed,” they said.