An employee of a local food establishment was arrested Thursday for being an illegal alien.

Lt. Lance Price of the Alabama Beverage Control Board said Karna Patel Bhikhabhai, a native of India, was acting as a power of attorney for a company which recently purchased the local BP store on South Three Notch.

Bhikhabhai, who was employed with Subway, was attempting to bring information on the new owners to the local ABC office.

“When questioned, he could not provide any information about his immigration status,” Price said. “After being interviewed, he confessed to immigration agents that he was here illegally.”

Price said Bhikhabhai told agents he was in the U.S. on a student visa; however, no record of that visa or any other identifying information could be found.

“He had a Georgia ID card, and that was it,” Price said. “It was like he was a ghost. No one anywhere had any knowledge of the man. It was very strange.”

Price said Homeland Security agents transported the man to a Montgomery County Jail holding cell.

“They told us that (today), he would be transferred to Dekalb County for federal holding, where a judge will decide whether or not to deport him,” Price said.

Late in the evening, authorities learned that the man was wanted in Illinois for assault and credit card fraud.