Pakistan releases Indian prisoner Hamid Nihal Ansari after 6 years
Islamabad, Dec 17 : Pakistan on Monday released Indian prisoner Hamid Nihal Ansari, who was detained by the country's intelligence agencies in 2012 and subsequently sentenced to three years' imprisonment by a military court in 2015 for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card.
Ansari, a 33-year-old Mumbai resident, was lodged in the Peshawar Central Jail after being sentenced by the military court on December 15, 2015. His three-year jail term ended on December 15, 2018 but he was not able to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready.
On Thursday, the Peshawar High Court gave the federal government a month deadline to complete his repatriation process.
"Ansari is being released upon completion of his sentence and is being repatriated to India," Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said.
He claimed that Ansari was an "Indian spy who had illegally entered Pakistan and was involved in anti-state crimes and forging documents."
Ansari went missing after he was taken into custody by Pakistani intelligence agencies and local police in Kohat in 2012 and finally in reply to a habeas corpus petition filed by his mother, Fauzia Ansari, the high court was informed that he was in custody of the Pakistan Army and was being tried by a military court.
He entered Pakistan from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.
A two-judge Peshawar High Court bench, comprising Justice Roohul Amin and Justice Qalandar Ali Khan, on Thursday heard an appeal filed by Ansari through his lawyer Qazi Muhammad Anwar.
Anwar informed the bench that both the Ministry of Interior and authorities of prison, where he was lodged, were completely silent about his release and deportation to India.
After hearing this, Justice Khan asked the Additional Attorney General to explain how would they keep the prisoner in jail after completion of his term.
An officer, representing the interior ministry, informed the court that a prisoner could be kept for one month while the legal documents were being prepared.
After knowing the legal position, the court directed the ministry to make all the arrangements within a month for releasing and deportation of the prisoner.
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Bengaluru: Four arrested for housebreaking, threats, extortion; fake PSI among accused
Bengaluru: Vidyaranyapura police have arrested four persons, including a man posing as a Police Sub-Inspector (PSI), for allegedly breaking into a house, threatening the occupants, and extorting money while wearing police uniforms.
The arrested accused have been identified as Mallikarjuna, Pramod, Vinay, and Hrithik.
Police said the accused had hatched a plan to pose as police personnel, conduct fake raids, and extort money from residents by intimidation.
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According to the police, Mallikarjuna had failed the PSI examination twice and later falsely projected himself as a PSI. He allegedly conducted photo shoots in his hometown, Siraguppa, wearing a police uniform, baton, cap, and shoes, claiming to be serving as a PSI in Bengaluru.
On December 7, the four accused allegedly went to the house of Naveen in the Vidyaranyapura limits, threatened him with a stick and an iron rod, and claimed they had information that he was selling ganja. Under the pretext of searching, they allegedly extorted ₹87,000 through bank transfer, ₹53,000 in cash kept in the house, and ₹2,000 from his wallet.
Following Naveen’s complaint, Vidyaranyapura police registered a case and launched an operation, leading to the arrest of all four accused. Police have seized ₹45,000 in cash and the car used to commit the crime.
Further investigation is underway.
