The Hindu : National : In jail, after serving sentence

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Thursday, Dec 28, 2006
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In jail, after serving sentence

Luv Puri

In Pakistan, 88 Indian prisoners await deportation

Kathua: Eighty-eight Indian prisoners, after having served their sentence, are in the Kot Lakhpat jail at Lahore awaiting deportation, according to 70-year-old Prakash Chand.

Mr. Chand, who was lodged in different jails for about nine years, was among the 70 prisoners released recently.

He went missing in December 1997. In 2000, a Red Cross team informed the family that he was in the Rawalpindi Central prison.

"I hope the authorities would try their best to get Indian prisoners back," he said, adding that many had died even while hoping to return to their homeland.

Mr. Chand, who had to be carried by fellow prisoners during his return, feels lucky. His homecoming is just ahead of the marriage of his youngest daughter Renu.

Deportation of a foreign national is a long process. After the completion of sentence, the person is sent to the police station near the border, where a First Information Report (FIR) is lodged. It is for the station to contact the External Affairs Ministry for deportation, which invariably takes months and in most cases several years.

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