Siliguri, Feb 9 (IANS) Three Europeans were Sunday arrested in northern West Bengal’s Jalpiguri district for carrying satellite phones, a police officer said. A court sent them to two days police custody.
The arrests came a day after police seized 22 satellite phones from a group of Europeans staying in a hotel at Chalsa in the Dooars forests.
The arrested persons were from Belgium, Britain and Germany, said Jalpaiguri’s Superintendent of Police Kunal Agarwal.
They have been charged under sections of the Indian Penal Code and under the Indian Telegraph Act.
Following a tip off from the army, police had aided the hotel and got hold of the phones from a group of 50 foreigners, who included inhabitants of various European nations.
The foreigners, who entered India from Myanmar through the Assam border and then came to Jalpaiguri, said they had come to shoot for a reality show, and were unaware that satellite phones cannot be used in India without permission.
Agarwal said that as of now, the remaining members of the group can go ahead with the shoot.