Hyderabad:
Officials said on Wednesday that two Pakistani citizens, who fulfilled their jail conditions, have been detained in Telangana jails for many years for many years, as the neighboring country has refused to accept them as a citizen.
72 -year -old Sher Ali Keshwani has been in custody in Cherlapalli Central Jail since 2015 after being acquitted in a detective case in Hyderabad.
Although he was convicted in another case in Uttar Pradesh and completed his sentence in 2014, he was brought to Hyderabad from Agra Jail by local police.
Similarly, another Pakistani National, Mohammad Nazir, in his Middle -50s, who has also completed his sentence, has been in custody in Changluda Central Jail since 2018. Nazir, who entered India through Nepal, was sent in December 2013 and was sentenced to five years by a local court on the charge of traditional medicine in Heejerb.
He completed his sentence in December 2018.
Officials said that to facilitate the exile of two Pakistani citizens, Telangana jail authorities arranged a consular access through the Pakistan Embassy, but it has not recognized them as its citizens.
A senior Telangana jail official told PTI, “Their sentences are actually over. He was sent to Tihar Jail (Delhi) for Consular Access, but Pakistan is not accepting them as its citizens. According to the order of the state government, they will remain in custody till their exile.”
According to the rules, once the sentence of a foreign national is completed, they should be sent to their original country after handing them over to the respective embassy, the officials said.
Another Telangana Jail Department official said, “However, the issue has been going on with these two (Pakistani) prisoners for years. Pakistan is not accepting them as citizens, so they remain in custody in state jails.”
Since Telangana lacks detention centers, the state government has ordered that they remain in jail till their exile, the official said.
Meanwhile, four Pakistani citizens, who were living in Hyderabad on a short -term visa, left India after a instruction from the Center after the Pehhalgam terror attack, police said on Wednesday.
Police had earlier reported that more than 200 Pakistani citizens were living in Telangana, mostly in Hyderabad, 190 on Indian visas.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on 25 April, called the Chief Ministers of all the states and directed them to ensure that no Pakistani citizens lived beyond the departure deadline in India.
On 22 April, terrorists set fire to Pahalgam in Kashmir, killing 26 people, mostly injured and many others.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is published by a syndicated feed.)
