Nitish asked to clarify French national's deportation

Nearly a month after ten French nationals were deported out of Bihar, the Centre has asked the Nitish regime to explain whether one of the visiting French woman, who had a valid permit to work, had violated visa conditions. And secondly, was she “a threat to the internal security”.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sought an explanation from the Bihar government why it deported a French national Altai Rose Gwendoline Bernard, who had a valid permit to work in Bhopal. As per the visa provisions, foreigners on Indian work permit need to inform the authorities only if their absence from the work place is more than eight weeks. Bernard was among the ten foreigners deported out of the state last month after they were found allegedly involved in the activities of banned naxal outfit CPI (Maoist) in the jungles of Bihar’s Jamui district.

The MHA has asked the Nitish government to explain on two fronts:

First, Whether it (Bihar government) had checked if Bernard was out of her work place for more than eight weeks? Secondly, Whether the Bihar government believed Bernard was a “threat to the internal security?”

The top police brass, who replied to the Centre’s poser, said that Bernard, in her statement to the police never mentioned anything about the period she was out of Bhopal and that “there was no way we could have checked it.”