Guwahati: Seven German nationals were detained in the Golaghat district on Friday for their purported involvement in missionary activities in the Golaghat district.
This is the second such case reported in a week as earlier three Swedish nationals were detained and deported in a similar violation.
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The detained German nationals attended a function organised by a church association in Golaghat.
They have been accused of flouting visa rules by attending religious functions and delivering speeches at functions organised by church associations, police said.
“They were detained for violation of visa norms. They came on tourist visas and engaged in activities that were beyond the rights of their visa. As per the law of the country, they are being deported,” Indian Express quoted Golaghat SP Ramandeep Kaur as saying.
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Police claimed that they were allegedly trying to convert people mostly from the tea garden areas to Christianity.
The detained German nationals have been identified as Michael Erich Schaper, Christian Friedrich Reiser, Merten Asmus, Cornelia Von Oheimb, Hinrich Luppen Von Oheimb, Cheista Dorothea Olearius, and Lisa Aimee Bloem.
They allegedly delivered speeches at religious programs at various locations in the Golaghat and Karbi Anglong districts of Assam.
They were also supposed to travel to Tezpur for similar events.
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They will be deported back to Germany from Kolkata on Saturday, said an official.
“We’ve fined 500 USD per person &contacted the competent authority to deport them to their respective country,” Assam Special DGP GP Singh said.
SP Kaur said the deportation process for the detained German nationals started on Saturday morning, and the detainees were already “on their way” to Delhi.
(The story has been updated.)