Police in Greater Noida have busted an illegal luxury bar being run in a clandestine manner with Chinese nationals living in India as its major patrons, officials said on Thursday.
The three-storey facility, located in Gharbara village with its interiors designed in traditional Chinese-style, was busted on Tuesday night, close on the heels of the arrest of a Chinese national who had been living in India illegally since 2020, a senior official said.
Everything in the facility was designed in Chinese style. Hindi or English was not used in its bar and restaurant for the items served. Illegal activities like drug abuse are suspected, the official, privy to the probe, told PTI.
Regular visitors and guests were mostly Chinese nationals. Among the Indians, some people from Northeast have also been found to be patrons of this facility, which was being run in a clandestine manner in the village, the official added.
No arrest was made from the spot, though the police said the investigation into the whole episode has widened with central government agencies and those specialising in dealing with foreigners.
Gautam Buddh Nagar Excise Department officials confirmed to PTI that the facility did not have any license to serve liquor.
They had applied for occasional party license but that was in the past. No license permit was sought by them in recent times, an excise officer added.
Chinese national Xue fei aka Kelay, 36, and his Indian girlfriend Petekhrinuo, 22, who hails from Nagaland, were arrested from a hotel in Gurugram, Haryana, by UP’s Gautam Buddh Nagar Police on Monday.
They were held on the basis of information given by two Chinese nationals, who were arrested on Nepal-India border in Bihar on Saturday last week by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) as they were trying to cross over into the Himalayan nation after staying in India illegally, the police said.
During probe these two Chinese nationals had informed the police in Sitamarhi district of Bihar that they had been staying in India with a friend in Greater Noida, prompting a search and investigation into the matter.
Xue fei and Petekhrinuo were staying in a housing society in Greater Noida but had fled to Gurugram after they got to know that the police had started looking for them, according to officials.
Forged documents including Aadhaar card and Indian passport were recovered by the police earlier from the possession of Xue fei. He and his girlfriend had told the police that they were engaged in a mobile phone spare parts business in Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar; however, their claims turned out to be wrong, police officials said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Greater Noida) Minakshi Katyayan said, “The offences that have come to light involve foreigners also and are very serious in nature. A thorough investigation is being carried out in the case. Central probe agencies have also been informed and we are coordinating with them to get to the root of the case.”
Both Xue fei and Peterkhrinuo are currently in judicial custody but the police will soon seek their remand for interrogation, Katyayan said.
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