Two years after he crossed border inadvertently, Pakistani teenager gets to go home on January 14

Additional home secretaries of Punjab and Delhi have been directed to bring Mubshar Bilal from Hoshiarpur and Sajjad Haider, who is in detention in Delhi, to the Attari-Wagah border under police escort at noon on January 14 so that they may be handed over to Pakistani Rangers and their families

After languishing at a juvenile home in Hoshiarpur for two years for having crossed over into Indian territory, 17-year-old Pakistan native, Mubshar Bilal, is all set to walk free as the Union home ministry has sanctioned his repatriation along with another Pakistani boy, Sajjad Haider, who is in a detention centre in Delhi.

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Mubshar, alias Mubarak, was acquitted by the juvenile justice board (JJB) more than a year ago but was not released due to diplomatic hurdles.

He was arrested by the Border Security Force (BSF) when he entered Indian territory through Khem Karan sector in February 2018 and a case under Sections 3, 34 and 20 of the Passports Act and Section 14 of the Foreigners Act was registered against him. Since then, he has been locked up in the juvenile home in Hoshiarpur.

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CAME TO BOY’S RESCUE

On September 4, 2018, the Tarn Taran juvenile justice board had acquitted him of all charges, maintaining that the boy had crossed the border inadvertently, yet he was not repatriated. His father Mohamad Akbar’s efforts also failed to secure his release.

The additional home secretaries of Punjab and Delhi have been directed to bring the children to the Attari-Wagah border under proper police escort at noon on January 14 so that they may be handed over to the Pakistani Rangers and their respective families.

Hoshiarpur juvenile home superintendent Puneet Kumar said that his office had received the orders. “We will duly implement the orders,” he said.