Indonesian woman with Chinese links caught at UP's Sonauli border
What's the story
An Indonesian woman, who allegedly posed as a Kolkata resident, was caught by Bureau of Immigration officials at the Sonauli border in Maharajganj district, Uttar Pradesh. She was trying to enter Nepal. The Bureau of Immigration officials became suspicious when she failed to speak Hindi properly during questioning. The woman identified herself as Li Kim Lien and claimed she was the president of an NGO helping Buddhist monks travel to China.
Passport revelation
She possessed an Indian employment visa
She was carrying an Indian voter ID card, Aadhaar card, and two PAN cards with different names.
The passport, bearing number X2398351, identified her as Rohana, an Indonesian citizen born on October 20, 1970. It also showed that she possessed an Indian employment visa.
The FIR says she held an E-3 employment visa bearing number VL9126916, valid from October 11, 2025, to November 9, 2026.
Her passport also contained details of a multiple-entry Indian visa issued on August 11, 2023.
Ongoing investigation
She claimed to be working as president of an NGO
During questioning, the woman claimed to be working as president of an NGO based in Kolkata.
The FIR does not identify the NGO or specify its activities or establish any link with Chinese government authorities.
An immigration official source told TOI, "We are still in the initial stage of investigation to claim or deny if the woman was involved in espionage or any other activity beyond the alleged immigration and identity-document offenses."
Visas
She returned from China in November 2025
Investigators also discovered that she had valid visas for China and Japan and had traveled abroad in the past.
Preliminary information indicated that the woman had been living in India since 2005 and had gotten multiple Indian documents using her purported fake identity.
She is believed to have returned to India from China in November 2025.