‘Bring him back from Pakistan’: UP man’s father tells Centre after son completes 1-year jail term for crossing over for love

AGRA: A 30-year-old tailor from Aligarh, who was kept in a Pakistani prison for allegedly crossing over to the neighbouring country without valid documents in Sept last year to meet a woman whom he had befriended over a social media platform, has been released from jail after serving the sentence, his father, Kripal Singh, said on Saturday after receiving information from his lawyer. Singh has now appealed to the govt of India to contact its counterparts in Pakistan and "bring his son back".He added that Pakistani authorities have shifted his son, Badal, to a detention centre. Notably, Badal had crossed into Pakistan via international border after befriending a Pakistani woman, only to be arrested by security agencies from Mandi Bahauddin of Pakistan’s Punjab province and sent to jail. Badal was charged under sections 13 and 14 of Pakistan's Foreigners Act, 1946. Desperate to reach his imprisoned son, Singh contacted a Pakistani lawyer, Fiyaz Ramay, to pursue the case. A court sentenced him to a year in jail.In a video statement, Ramay said, "During the investigation, it came to light that he (Badal) was not an agent, but crossed the international border to meet a woman whom he met on Facebook. He was awarded a one-year jail term on Dec 27, last year. The Pakistani criminal justice system awarded him less punishment on humanitarian grounds... He is now likely to be deported."Govt officials in Delhi were unavailable to comment on the matter.