TWO Brit audiologists have been arrested while on a volunteering trip in Nepal, after one medic was busted “putting a foot” in India, despite being warned not to.
Shakil Sumithra, 61, from Gloucester, and Hassan Saleem, 35, from Manchester, have been taken into custody for crossing the Indian border without visas.
The two medics were volunteering with the Britain Nepal Otology Service (Brinos), a Surrey-based charity that regularly hosts “ear camps” in the South Asian nation.
The pair were taken into custody on Saturday at Rupaidiha, the main border crossing between Nepal and India.
Neir Weil, founder of Brinos, spoke to The Times, saying Sumithra and Saleem had taken the 15-minute drive to the border in their free time.
“They did not mention to other members of the team that they intended to cross the border,” he said.
“They initially intended to look at the border from the Nepalese side.”
Weil said Sumithra – who is a clinical lead in paediatric audiology at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital’s children’s audiology centre – is of Indian heritage, with family still living in the country.
He said that “despite being warned not to” by Nepalese authorities, Sumithra was “keen to put a foot in India”.
Saleem, a technical instructor in audiology at De Montfort University in Leicester with Pakistani heritage, had accompanied Sumithra.
This sparked the security alert with border officials due to the long-standing disputes between the countries.
Border security was tightened after a car explosion in Delhi killed 10 people just last week.
Saleem had proudly posted about his visit to the audiology teaching hospital and university in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, on his LinkedIn profile, saying it had been an “eye-opening experience”.
“We often find ourselves complaining about the pressures on the health system in the UK — but witnessing the situation here really puts things into perspective,” he wrote.
“In Kathmandu, around 300 patients are waiting in a single day to see an ENT [ear, nose and throat] doctor.”
The 35-year-old said he had been looking forward to the second part of the trip, taking place in Nepalgunj.
Ganga Singh Udawat, the commandant of the central police force that guards India’s borders with Nepal, told the Press Trust of India that neither audiologist had valid Indian visas.
“They failed to provide any satisfactory reason for their entry into India,” he said.
According to Udawat, the pair were later handed over to the Rupaidiha police “for further action”.
Saleem’s family has said they were treating the issue “seriously”, according to The Times.
The pair are still in custody and are set to face an Indian court at a later date.
They have been charged under the Indian Passport Act, 1967.
