The sources said that three foreigners working for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were held while travelling in two cars in the posh University Town.They were taken to the University Town Police Station and questioned about their documents.

The sources said one of those detained was identified as G Peter, an Australian working in the administration section of the ICRC and Zahir Usman, a French doctor. The third person could not be identified.

Another official of the ICRC later arrived at the police station and presented the documents of the detained foreigners after which they were allowed to go.A police official said that they were checking the suspicious foreigners after reports about the presence of spies in the country. He added that those who would present their credentials would not be bothered.

A spokesman for ICRC Ameer Mohammad Khan told The News that three staffers of the ICRC were stopped for checking in University Town. “Actually they were not arrested. When they were stopped by the cops, they volunteered to go to the police station,” said the spokesman. He added that the foreigners remained in police station for over an hour after which they were allowed to go on providing all the legal documents.

A US national Aaron Mark DeHaven and three other US nationals were also arrested from the same University Town locality almost two weeks ago for their suspicious movement and not having relevant documents. DeHaven was granted bail by a local court while the other three were released as no case had been lodged any case against them.