Neighbours of arrested Chinese say she was aloof
NEW DELHI: The residents welfare association of Ganga Apartment, part of a large gated society in south Delhi’s Vasant Kunj, is planning to approach the police to get verified all tenants who have already vacated flats, following the arrest of a Chinese woman resident in an alleged case of espionage.
NS Mor, the RWA president, said, “Henceforth we are also planning to propose that a member of the RWA be witness during the tenant verification process when someone shifts to our society.”
“We had never doubted the Chinese woman during her stay here, but her arrest has come as a shock for all residents of the society,” Mor said.
Delhi Police’s special cell has arrested Qing Shi, the Chinese woman, along with a Nepalese man, Sher Singh, and an Indian journalist — all of whom have been booked under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly spying for China.
Mor said some Chinese students had lived in the society previously, but as of September, Qing was the only Chinese person living there.
Residents of Ganga Apartment said Qing and Singh were always “aloof”.
Rajeev Kumar Mishra, a security guard in the society, said he saw the news of their arrest on television. He said, “The chequered orange top she wore in the image was one she frequently wore while leaving for work every morning.”
“They never interacted with anyone. Whenever I went to collect the monthly maintenance charges from their flat, the Nepalese man would open the door only slightly and give the cash without saying much,” Mishra said.
The security guard said that earlier this year, the duo had disposed of a rickshaw full of some electronic items such as transistors and speakers.
“It came across as unusual, but I didn’t ask them anything,” Mishra said.
Sandeep, who owns a general store below the duo’s secondfloor flat, said his interaction with the suspects was limited to Singh shouting for drinking water from his balcony.
“He would just say ‘paani’ and I would send a delivery boy. I always thought they didn’t know any Indian languages,” he said.
A neighbour who didn’t want to be identified said the duo was “very very aloof”.