Guwahati: The Assam Police has detained John Matthew Bone and Michael James Flinchum, both US nationals, for reportedly breaching their visa conditions by engaging in religious preaching. The incident took place on February 2 at the Baptist Christian Hospital in Tezpur, Assam, where religious preaching is prohibited under visa regulations. Local residents filed a complaint, prompting the police to take action.
The individuals were each fined $500, and the case has been forwarded to the police headquarters after being filed at the Kacharigaon police station. There are indications that the US nationals may face deportation, according to sources.
Earlier on January 31, Bone and Flinchum attended the inauguration of the North Bank Baptist Christian Association office at the Baptish Mission Complex in Tezpur. Additional Superintendent of Police Madhurima Das of Sonitpur mentioned that the two Americans participated in a religious meeting on February 1 at the Baptist Christian Mission Hospital.
“The police detained them after getting information. We conducted a probe and found them involved in the religious gathering,” she stated, according to news agency Press Trust of India.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had previously urged religious communities to refrain from converting indigenous people, citing concerns about mainstream religions targeting these communities.
This incident follows a similar occurrence in October 2022, where seven German nationals and three Swedish nationals were detained in Assam’s Golaghat and Dibrugarh districts for allegedly violating visa norms by participating in missionary activities. They were subsequently taken to Guwahati and deported.
