Chinese woman, without papers, gets confirmed no spy
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Patna: The mysterious Chinese woman, who was suspected to be spying on Dalai Lama as per the media houses, however, turned out to be a simple case of a person who had overstayed in India without intention, PTI reported.
The news agency added that the mentioned media could have been "excused" for their excitement in expecting something 'big' since police released sketches of the woman, Song Xiaolan, who is gaunt and donning closely cropped hair. Police also released her passport details and visa numbers.
Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters), JS Gangwar, said, "She has been slapped with a Leave India notice following visa violation. We are going to hand her over to the authorities concerned for repatriation."
Dalai Lama is a persona non grata in China, and security concerns have accompanied him everywhere since he escaped Tibet in 1959. This was after the Chinese bloodily crackdown on the 'Roof of the World', writes PTI.
A few years ago, his visit to Bodh Gaya also witnessed a low-intensity blast which was employed by a Bangladesh-based terror group.
However, Gaya police clarified that Song, the Chinese woman in question, was never suspected of espionage or terrorist activities. Police said that she fell in love with spirituality and landed in the land of Buddha in October 2019. She stopped being aware that visas are things of the world governed by laws laid down by nations.
Though she was not supposed to overstay for more than three months, she did it for more than three years. She had briefly visited Nepal, met a local woman there, befriended her and returned to India with her. Police picked both of them up from a guest house in Bodh Gaya but learned that they had settled in Mc Leodganj, the Dharmasala town often known as "mini Tibet". They stayed there because of a desire to be close to the Dalai Lama.
The two women came to Bodh Gaya on December 22, and the foreign department informed them that Xiaolan was a persona non grata.