The Sashastra Seem Bal intercepted two persons, one of whom is suspected to be of Chinese origin holding a United States of America passport, while they were trying to cross over to Nepal from Panitanki on the Indian side on Monday evening.

One has been identified as Pempa Bhutia, 57, a resident of Darjeeling More in Siliguri. The other person was identified as Choejor Woeser, 46, who also had documents with the name Choejer Budha. Choejer is suspected to be of Chinese origin possessing US documents and an Indian PAN.

Panitaki is 26km from Siliguri.

“Two persons were trying to cross over to Nepal from the Panitanki check-post around 7pm on Monday. They told the SSB jawans guarding the borders that they would go to the Nepal check post to collect some money from one of their friends on the other side of the border ``, said a source.

However, when the Indian guards asked for papers to prove their nationality, they smelled something amiss.

“Chinese birth certificate, parents’ Chinese documents, photocopy of US passport, study visa, driving license of New York and even Indian PAN card of Choejer, was recovered from his phone, along with some Nepal and India currency and air tickets from Bhadrapur to Kathmandu (two cities in Nepal),” said the source.

The duo was handed over to Kharibari police station.

“On Tuesday, the duo was produced in Siliguri court and were sent to seven days in police custody,” said Subrata Roy Basunia, assistant public prosecutor.

The Siliguri corridor is considered a strategic location with many referring to it as a “chicken’s neck” given the narrow stretch that separates China and Bangladesh. The region is a gateway to north eastern states of India.