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The Manipur Police have arrested a Myanmarese couple who they said had sneaked into India illegally last December. A local Christian missionary at whose house the couple stayed since early March was also arrested.
Manipur IPR Minister Dr Sapam Ranjan said the three have been booked under the Foreigners Act and the IPC. “The state government is taking it seriously and strong action will be initiated to those who support illegal entry and providing forged Aadhar cards,” he said.
Police said the Myanmarese couple — Limdai Merr and his wife Veikhohat Hatnu — was arrested based on a tip-off from the house of Angom Chinglen at Phayeng village in Imphal West district. Two Aadhaar cards and two mobile phones were recovered from the couple, they said.
According to a police report, the couple entered Nagaland’s Avakhong village, Kiphire district, from Myanmar in January 2023. It said the couple forged the Aadhaar cards with the help of Merr’s grand uncle who lives at Mimi village in Nagaland.
The police report said Chinglen, who works with the Berean Multiplying Movement, a Ranchi-based Christian mission, brought the couple to Manipur in February. The couple were living at Chinglen’s house since March 6, it said.
According to the police report, before his marriage in Myanmar, Merr had been living in Nagaland since 2008. It said Merr studied Theology for two years at Amazing Grace College, Dimapur, and then pursued a three-year course at Nagaland Theological College.
Merr also worked as a Theology teacher in Kiphire district of Nagaland for a year before returning to his country in May 2017. From 2019 to 2020, Merr worked as a missionary in Yangon, the report added.
It’s not clear if Merr’s earlier stay in India was legal.
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