Five more Chinese nationals, allegedly living in India illegally since 2020, were taken into custody by the Gautam Buddh Nagar Police in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, officials said.

The accused, who were staying in rented accommodations in Greater Noida, have passports but their visas had expired, according to police officials.

This comes in a series of arrests and detentions of over 25 Chinese nationals within two months who were found staying illegally in Noida and Greater Noida near Delhi.

The accused Chinese nationals worked for a private company in Greater Noida. The five accused lived in two apartments on rent in a society in Sector Chi 4 of Greater Noida and were held from there, a police official privy to the probe said.

Although the accused had valid passports, they were found to be overstaying in the country. Their business visas were issued in 2020 but expired in January this year. They appear to have applied for a visa extension last year but were not granted permission for that, the official added.

The police identified those apprehended as Hu Yalin, Wang Zhonghuang, Ji Mengqiang, Guan Zhiwu and Jiang Shunyong.

The officials said they have been sent to a detention centre in Delhi.

The Uttar Pradesh Police is separately probing a suspected hawala racket linked to a Chinese national who was staying in India illegally since 2020 but got arrested on June 13 this year.

Xue Fei alias Kelay (36) was staying in a Greater Noida society with his Indian girlfriend Petekhrinuo (22), who hails from Nagaland. She has also been arrested.

Xue Fei had been running an illegal restro-bar at a remote village in Greater Noida where Chinese nationals staying in India were the chief patrons.

A month later, police arrested four more Chinese nationals suspected to be associated with the same hawala link.

Separately, the police had on July 13 detained 14 Chinese nationals, including a woman, for allegedly staying in Noida with expired work visas.

These 14 Chinese nationals, who worked for a mobile phone company but their visas expired in 2020, were sent to a detention centre in Delhi where proceedings for their deportation were started, according to officials.