Parents of Indian jailed in Pakistan seek his release

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Parents of Indian jailed in Pakistan seek his release

Published: Wed 17 Feb 2016, 11:00 PM

Last updated: Thu 18 Feb 2016, 1:59 PM

 The family of an engineer from here, who had entered Pakistan from the Afghanistan border about three years ago, is desperately trying to get him released from jail.
Dr Khalid Ansari, a dental surgeon in Andheri, a north-western Mumbai suburb, told Khaleej Times that his younger brother, Hamid, 31, was the victim of a fraud perpetrated by some people in Pakistan.
According to Ansari, the very fact that Hamid had applied many times to the Pakistan high commission in Delhi for a visa indicated that he was not a spy, as alleged by authorities there.
Hamid Ansari was in touch with a girl he had befriended online and was keen to meet her. Some of the contacts that he had made had urged him to fly to Afghanistan since the Pakistani officials were not giving him visa.
They had assured him that it was easy to enter Pakistan from the border and that they had contacts with security officials, who would ensure his return to Afghanistan.
"We did not know of all these things, else we would have dissuaded him," said Ansari. Hamid travelled to Kabul and then crossed into Pakistan in 2012. He met a contact, with whom he was in touch on Facebook. Ansari says the contact, who claimed to be a journalist in Peshawar, demanded money from Hamid. When he refused to pay, they locked him up in a flat and informed intelligence officials that he was a spy, claims Ansari. He was arrested and kept in custody for three-and-a-half years, before being charged by a military court of being a spy and sentenced to a three-year jail term.
An IT engineer, Hamid was a lecturer at a local college in Mumbai. He got in touch with the girl on an app and also interacted with some people on Facebook. However, access to the FB account has been closed and the app on which he was interacting with the girl also cannot be accessed, said Ansari.
"My parents will address the media on Friday and appeal to the authorities in Pakistan to release him," said Ansari. The family has also approached NGOs in both countries for help in securing his release.
The family lost all contact with Hamid after he left Mumbai in 2012. They then filed a habeas corpus petition through a Pakistani lawyer and in January came to know of a military court sentencing Hamid to a three-year jail term. Hamid's parents, Fauzia and Nehal are hoping that their son would be released from a Pakistani jail soon. They are in touch with the authorities and activists.
nithin@khaleejtimes.com

By Nithin Belle

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