German National, Who Accused Railway Employee of Assault, Held for Forged Visa

German tourist Holger Ereek, who had got into an altercation with railway supervisor Aman Kumar two days ago in Uttar Pradesh, has been arrested for travelling with a forged visa. Ereek had claimed that Kumar attacked him when he did not respond to the latter’s greetings at Robertsganj railway station in Sonbhadra district on Nov. 4.

Ereek, 45, has been booked under Sections 14A of Foreigners Act (travelling without valid documents), 419 (cheating) and 420 (fraud) of IPC by the Sonbhadra police. This was done after an investigation by the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FFRO) of Local Intelligence Unit (LIU) found that a case against Ereek was filed with the Manikaran police post of Kullu in Himachal Pradesh on July 5 for allegedly attacking a person with a sharp-edged weapon.

After the case was registered, his passport and visa were deposited in the CJM court of Kullu. According to RP Singh, the Superintendent of Police at Sonbhadra, Ereek should have taken permission from Kullu police to leave the station, the Times of India reported. He, however, traveled to other parts of the country with a forged visa and no documents. On the photocopy of his visa, he had overwritten the date of his stay in the country.

Singh said that the investigation officer of the case would go to Kullu to get more information. “We found a photocopy of his visa in his possessions, on which the date was found to have been overwritten,” he was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express. “Holger claimed that his original passport and visa were impounded in a court of Kullu in Himachal Pradesh. His information has to be verified.”

The matter from Kullu is still pending in court. Ereek came into the media glare on Nov. 5 following his altercation with a railway employee at the Robertsganj railway station the previous day. Ereek and Kumar accused each other of assault, and the police arrested Kumar on the basis of Ereek’s FIR. On the same night, Ereek hit Harivansh Ram Azad, the Robertsganj outpost in-charge of the Government Railway Police, on his nose when he was asked not to leave the outpost. Ereek had come to Sonbhadra on Nov. 3 to see Agori Fort.

Uttar Pradesh has also been in news recently for the attack on Swiss couple in Fatehpur Sikri.