Mumbai: Jogeshwari man released from Pakistan jail after six years

Hamid Ansari allegedly went to Pakistan to meet a girl he had befriended online. File pic

The mother of techie Hamid Ansari, who was released by Pakistan after he was jailed there for six years, landed in Delhi on Monday. Speaking to mid-day from Delhi, Ansari's mother Fauzia said, "I have no words to say what the entire family has gone through in the past six years. I am thankful to the Indian media. Hamid has gone through a lot in the past six years, he was tortured by Pakistani agencies who thought he was an Indian spy. That is also why remission was denied by the Pakistani government in August this year. The only thing I want now for my son is that at least he should get a job. We are hopeful, he will be back home soon."

Hamid Nihal Ansari had been detained by Pakistan'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. He had entered Pakistan from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.

Ansari, a 33-year-old Jogeshwari 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, 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's 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 in 2012 and finally in reply to a habeas corpus petition filed by his mother, Fauzia, the high court was informed that he was in custody of the Pakistan Army.

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