Srinagar, Dec 8 (IANS) A Chinese national visiting J&K and Ladakh without permission has been detained by authorities, officials said.

Hu Congtai, 29, arrived in Delhi on November 19 on a tourist visa, which permitted him to visit Buddhist religious places in Varanasi, Agra, New Delhi, Jaipur, Sarnath, Gaya, and Kushinagar, according to officials.

“However, leveraging his resemblance to locals, he boarded a flight to Leh on November 20 and did not register at the Foreigners Regional Registration Office counter located at the Leh airport. During his stay, he toured the Zanskar region for three days and visited places of importance in the Himalayan town before landing in Srinagar on December 1,” the official said.

”A search of his phone history showed that he was looking for the deployment of the CRPF in the Kashmir Valley,” the official said, adding that he had arranged for an Indian SIM card from the open market.

As per officials, Hu, who stayed in an unregistered guest house in Srinagar, went to a Buddhist religious place at Harwan, a place where an encounter had left one Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist dead last year.

”He had also visited Awantipur ruins in South Kashmir, which is located near Victor Force headquarters of the army in South Kashmir. During his stay, he had also visited different areas of Srinagar, including Shankracharya hills, Hazratbal, and Mughal Garden along the Dal Lake. His phone history showed searches related to CRPF deployments and Article 370 of the Constitution, which was abrogated in August 2019,” the official said.

“Hu has completed his graduation in Physics from Boston University and has claimed that he likes to travel. His passport shows that he has visited various countries, including the US, New Zealand, Brazil and Fiji, and Hong Kong,” the official added.

–IANS

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