French tourists sent back, linked to NGO with ‘Maoist ties’

The Ministry of Home Affairs had alerted the Bihar Police about "suspicious movement" of French tourists in the Naxal hotbed of Nawada and Jamui. The deportation assumes importance after Home Secretary R K Singh said last month here that "certain Maoist-sympathiser NGOs had been under the government scanner".

The police suspected the tourists had been working for a "Maoist-sympathiser" voluntary group, claiming to be working for rights of the landless people. The tourists, who had come to Bihar on April 18, were detained as they entered Nawada from Jamui on April 21.

The tourists, camping in Jamui and Nawada and meeting villagers and holding meetings with Ekta Parishad, an NGO working for land reforms, had not informed the police about their arrivals and even stayed at "private houses and visited places other than tourist spots".

Gaya Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Naiyar Hasnain Khan said: "We detained the French tourists and deported them for violation of visa norms." He, however, said the police had not been sure of the NGO's tie-ups with Naxals. Its state coordinator Pradeep Priyadarshi said: "We have always been against Naxals and any violent movement. We take up pro-poor issues such land reforms, water and forest concerns."

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