MP man detained at India-Pakistan border, family says he’s mentally unstable

Police in Singrauli, 780 kilometres northeast of Bhopal, received a phone call from the BSF on Saturday that a man identified as Mohammad Mushtaq was detained while trying to cross the international border with Pakistan.

Updated on: Oct 7, 2019, 13:17:19 IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | By Shruti Tomar

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The family of a 42-year-man from Madhya Pradesh’s Singrauli district detained on the Wagah border by Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday has claimed he is mentally unstable, senior police officials have said.

The family of the man detained at Wagah said they didn’t know how he reached the border. (Sameer Sehgal / HT Photo)

Police in Singrauli, 780 kilometres northeast of Bhopal, received a phone call from the BSF on Saturday that a man identified as Mohammad Mushtaq was detained while trying to cross the international border with Pakistan.

A resident of Gobha village, Mushtaq had gone missing from his house on September 30.

“BSF officials contacted us to check the credentials of the man. His family said he was mentally unstable and he went missing from his house four days back,” Singrauli’s superintendent of police, Abhijeet Ranjan, said on Sunday.

“The family showed the medical reports and identity cards of the man to police. After verifying the facts, we sent a copy of reports and identity cards of the man to BSF,” Ranjan said.

The SP said “to the best of our knowledge” BSF officials were satisfied with the reports. The man was produced before the local sub-divisional magistrate’s (SDM) court and he was allowed to go, he said.

According to Mushtaq’s brother Mohammad Yaseen, he is a father of three children and his wife doesn’t live with him.

“A few years ago, our family was attacked by some villagers due to a land dispute. My brother was hit on his head. He turned mentally unstable due to head injuries. We took him to Allahabad, Nagpur and Rewa for treatment but he always ran away from the hospitals,” Yaseen said.

Mushtaq told him a few days ago that he would move to a place where he could earn some money but they didn’t know how he reached the border.

“As of now, we don’t know whether BSF has released him from its detention. We are taking the help of the local police to get my brother back,” he added.

In July, a mentally unstable man from Rewa was found in a Pakistan jail after he crossed the border inadvertently.

(With inputs from Harendra Singh)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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