National

Indian man freed from Pak, mother thanks Sushma

Pratidin Bureau

Indian national Hamid Nehal Ansari who returned to India yesterday after languishing in Pakistani jails for over six years, today met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi. The 33-year-old, who crossed the Wagah-Attari on Tuesday, became emotional while talking about his jail term in Pakistan, said officials.

Hamid thanked Swaraj and the Foreign Ministry for persisting with the case and taking it up with Islamabad.

Thanking Government of India and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for rescuing her son, Hamid's mother Fauzia, who accompanied him for the meeting, said "Mera Bharat mahaan, meri madam mahaan, sab madam ne hi kiya hai (My India is great, my madam is great. Madam has done everything)".

According to reports, the Mumbai resident was arrested in Pakistan in 2012 and was imprisoned in the Peshawar Central Jail after being sentenced by a military court on December 15, 2015.

Pakistan had reportedly claimed that Ansari was an "Indian spy who had illegally entered Pakistan and was involved in anti-state crimes and forging documents."

He entered Pakistan from Afghanistan to meet a girl he had befriended online, as per reports.

According to official sources, India issued 96 notes verbales to Pakistan seeking consular access to Ansari.

On Thursday, the Peshawar High Court gave the Pakistan government a month's deadline to complete his repatriation process. 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.

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