Aizawl: Two persons from Russia and the Slovak Republic were detained by security forces in Mizoram for entering the state without the mandatory Protected Area Permit (PAP), a senior police officer said on Friday.
Mizoram Inspector General of Police (Headquarters) H. Ramthlengliana said that the 58-year-old Slovak national was detained in south Mizoram’s Siaha district on March 24 along the Indo-Myanmar border by Assam Rifles.
The Russian national was intercepted by the Border Security Force (BSF) in Mamit district near the Tripura border on the following day (March 25) while attempting to enter Mizoram from the neighbouring state, he said.
Although both foreign nationals possessed valid visas and passports, they did not have PAP, a mandatory travel permit for foreign nationals to enter Mizoram, he added.
After their detention, both individuals were handed over to the state police by the security forces, Ramthlengliana said. According to him, the Slovak man was deported to his country on Friday.
The 41-year-old Russian national, who is a cyclist, entered Mizoram by bicycle from Agartala and was brought to Aizawl on Friday, he said.
He will also be deported once his flight ticket is confirmed, the IGP added.
Another police officer said that the Russian man confessed to the police that he was unaware that a PAP was required to enter Mizoram.
He was intercepted and detained on Phuldungsei Road in Mamit district, which shares a border with Bangladesh, by BSF personnel, who handed him over to the state police, she said.
According to officials, the Slovak man had travelled from Thailand to Kolkata and then to Mizoram and was planning to participate in a water festival in Myanmar’s Chin state, having been invited by friends.
PAP is a mandatory travel permit to enter protected areas.
The whole of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Manipur, Nagaland, and Mizoram, as well as parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand, are defined as protected areas.
In 2011, the Centre relaxed the PAP regime for Manipur, Nagaland, and Mizoram to boost tourism, exempting all foreigners except Afghan, Pakistani, and Chinese nationals.
This relaxation was later extended in five-year increments, with the latest order issued in December 2022, valid until December 2027.
However, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) reimposed PAP in Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland in December 2024 to regulate the movement of foreigners amid growing security concerns due to influx from neighbouring countries.
The MHA, on 17 December 2024, notified the Chief Secretaries of the three states, reinstating PAP and lifting the 13-year-old relaxation.