handcuffs
Photo of a pair of handcuffs Reuters/File

An Indian national has been arrested after landing at Bali’s Ngurah Rai airport from Sydney on Sunday.

Airport police officials took Mohan Kumar, 56, into police custody after they received an Interpol red notice alert regarding his arrest. Denpasar District Police detective Reinhard Nainggolan told AAP that the Australian Federal Police had instructed them to take the man under custody after he landed from the Garuda flight to Ngurah Rai airport at 1:50 pm local time on Sunday.

According to reports published by several Indonesian websites, the man is an alleged serial killer called Cyanide Mohan who was convicted for murdering around 20 women, but escaped a death sentence scheduled back in 2013. Bali Police said that it was working in coordination with the Indian Consulate General as well as Indonesian National Police.

This is the second case of arrest of an Indian national at Ngurah Rai international airport in two months. In September, another Indian man Sayed Mohammed Said, 28, was arrested by custom officers when he was found carrying around 1.5 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine onto the island.

Ngurah Rai’s Customs and Excise Office head Budi Harjanto confirmed that the man arrived in Bali from Bangkok via AirAsia flight QZ521. He claimed that the officers on customs and excise duty noticed the man's suspicious body language while he collected his luggage at the arrival terminal.

The officers put Said’s luggage for the X-ray test clearance, which failed and led to his immediate arrest. “When we searched his luggage, we found a plastic bag of crystal methamphetamine weighing 1,516 grams and covered in black tape,” Harjanto was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post.

During the investigation, the suspect repeatedly defended himself, saying the bag belonged to one of his friends from Nepal. However, Bali police narcotics unit chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Joni Lay claimed that the suspect was part of an international drug ring.

Contact the writer at feedback@ibtimes.com.au, or let us know what you think below.