A Nepalese man was mistakenly arrested and detained for about an hour on Thursday as police officers were unaware of a new type of residence card recently introduced, police said.
Police officers questioned the man in his 20s on a street in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward Thursday morning and asked him to show his identification card. The man took out his residence card but was arrested on the spot because the police officers believed it was a fake card, according to the police.
The Nepalese man was then taken to a police station where another police officer realized that he possessed a type of residence card issued since June 14.
The incident came despite the Metropolitan Police Department raising awareness, on multiple occasions, about the introduction of the new residence card.
“We are truly sorry and deeply apologize,” the police said, adding that they will make sure that such incidents do not happen again.
© KYODO
