Railway Protection Force personnel at Katihar Junction in Bihar detained an adult man and three minor girls of Myanmar origin on 13 September after they failed to produce valid passports or identity papers during a routine platform check. The Government Railway Police registered a case on 14 September under Section 21 of the Immigration & Foreigners Act 2025 and Section 3 of the Passports Act 1920. During preliminary questioning, the detainees admitted to crossing into India via an undisclosed land border before boarding the Kamakhya–Anand Vihar Superfast Express. Investigators are probing possible links to cross-border trafficking rings that move undocumented migrants from Myanmar through India toward West Asia. The trio of minors has been placed under the Child Welfare Committee, while the adult male faces judicial custody pending verification by the Myanmar Embassy. The episode underscores heightened vigilance along India’s rail corridors, which authorities say are increasingly exploited for irregular onward movement to Delhi, Mumbai and Gujarat. Since the new Immigration & Foreigners Act came into force last year, over 1,200 foreigners have been intercepted on trains, with forged Aadhaar cards and refugee slips commonly used to evade scrutiny. For employers moving expatriate staff through secondary Indian cities, the case serves as a reminder that railway and state police now have real-time access to the IVFRT database and can demand travel-document evidence at any point. Mobility managers should ensure that foreign employees carry original passports and valid visas when travelling domestically by rail and are briefed on local police powers. Legal counsel advise companies to revisit their duty-of-care protocols: failure to report missing passports or lost residence permits within 24 hours can trigger fines and complicate future visa renewals under the 2025 Act. Organisations employing refugees or persons of concern should track FRRO permissions carefully to avoid inadvertent violations.
Source: India Today NE
