MP man who had lived in HK, China detained after NIA tipoff

The Indore police has detained a 40-year-old man who had lived in China and Hong Kong on the suspicion of having links with Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and terrorist organisations, officials said on Tuesday. 

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said the man, identified as Sarfaraz, was detained following inputs from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and being questioned.

Indore's Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Rajat Saklecha said they had received inputs from the Mumbai police as well as the NIA regarding the suspect. 

He was currently living in Indore's Chandan Nagar police station limits, the DCP said without disclosing the suspect's name.

He had worked in China and Hong Kong between 2005 and 2018, said the police official.

As per DCP Saklecha, the suspect told interrogators that he and his Chinese wife were getting divorced and related proceedings were underway in a court in China, but the woman's lawyer gave false information about him to the Indian intelligence agencies.

The Indore police were probing the case in coordination with  the concerned central and state agencies, the official added.

After returning to Indore in 2018, the suspect married for the fourth time, Saklecha said, adding that he had been in the business of medicines, clothes and oil in the city.

A close relative of his lives in Kuwait, the DCP added.

"The man is educated only till Class 5, but he knows Chinese and English because he has lived abroad," the official said.

The suspect obtained an Indian passport for the first time in 2003, and in 2006 he got a new one issued through the Indian embassy in Hong Kong after complaining that he had lost the original one, the DCP said.

Though no incriminating material has been recovered from the man's possession so far, his bank accounts and documents were being scrutinised and his statements crosschecked by contacting the concerned embassies, the official added.

The police had not reached any final conclusion about him yet, the DCP noted.

Talking to reporters in Bhopal, Home Minister Mishra said the suspect, named Sarfaraz, was detained following the NIA's inputs.

The rule of law prevails in Madhya Pradesh which is an "island of peace" and no one involved in any suspicious activity will be spared, the minister said.

Officials in Bhopal had said on Monday that the Mumbai police was trying to trace a man identified as Sarfaraz Memon, who was allegedly "trained in Pakistan", after it was alerted by the NIA about his movements in the country's financial capital.

The NIA communication to the Mumbai police said he hailed from Madhya Pradesh, so the police in the state were also alerted, officials said.

"NIA officials also shared details like his Aadhaar card, driving licence and passport. As per the information received, the suspect has received training in China, Hong Kong and Pakistan," a police official had said.