Kannur: A 29-year-old Bangladeshi woman who had been working at an ayurveda massage centre near Kannur Railway Station since July was arrested by the Kannur Town police after they found that she did not have a passport, visa or other documents required to stay in India.

The woman has been identified as Salina Akter from Doppasha village in Faridpur District of Dhaka Division. She had earlier worked in Guwahati, Mumbai and Bengaluru, according to a Kannur Police Inspector. She was arrested on September 14 and booked under Sections 3(1) and 21 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, for entering India without valid documents. If convicted, she will have to serve up to five years in prison.

According to the FIR, Kannur Town Sub-Inspector Akhil T K received a tip-off saying a foreign woman was working at My Spa Ayurvedic Hub, near Kannur Railway Station, without valid documents.

A police team, led by Akhil, reached the centre and asked the manager, Manu K Mathew, to call in the employees. When the woman identified as Salina was asked to produce an identity document, she told the police that her identity document was on her mobile phone.

According to the FIR, Salina handed over the phone and gave the police the pattern required to unlock it. When the phone was checked, the police found a photograph of a National ID Card issued by the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. The card carried her name and address, identified her as a Bangladeshi and listed her place of birth as Dhaka. She did not have a passport, visa or other valid travel documents or permission to stay in India.

The police subsequently arrested her and impounded her phone.

Calls made to the spa manager went unanswered.