Indian techie returns after 6 yrs in Pakistan jail

Attari (Amritsar): A software engineer from Mumbai, who had spent around six years in a Pakistan jail, was reunited with his family after he returned to India through the Attari-Wagah border on Tuesday evening.

Hamid Ansari, 33, was earlier released from a jail in Peshawar on Tuesday for repatriation. He was arrested in 2012 for illegally entering Pakistan from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online 

The software engineer was subsequently sentenced to three years’ imprisonment by a military court in 2015 for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card. The Mumbai resident’s term ended on December 15, but he was not able to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready.

It was an emotional moment for the Ansari family when his parents hugged their son soon after he entered the Indian territory through the Attari-Wagah land route.

The 33-year-old, who was sporting a beard and wearing a cap, could be seen consoling his mother, Fauzia, and wiping her tears as she repeatedly hugged and kissed him.

The bespectacled Hamid Ansari and his family members kissed the Indian soil after his return and thanked the Almighty for answering their prayers.

Shortly before his arrival, Hamid Ansari’s mother had told reporters that the prayers of the family and of all those who wished for his safe return had been answered. “I am immensely happy today. I don’t have words to describe my feelings.” 

His father, Nihal Ansari, said, “It is a new dawn for us”.

Hamid Ansari was received by Indian officials at the Attari-Wagah route and crossed over into Indian territory after the conclusion of the beating-retreat ceremony.

Immediately after his return, his medical checkup was conducted by doctors. He crossed over to India on the basis of emergency travel certificate issued by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

Last Thursday, the Peshawar High Court had given the Pakistan government a month’s deadline to complete his repatriation process.