A man from Assam was detained by Pakistan Rangers after he inadvertently strayed across the international border more than three months ago. However, instead of filing any case and handing him to police, the Rangers kept him in their custody for over 3 months. Finally, Punjab police in Pakistan have formally arrested and taken custody of BJ Singh, a 31-year-old resident of Assam, India, after the Rangers handed him over to the police.
Singh, detained by Pakistan Rangers without any formal charges, was handed over to Saddar police station in Kasur district this week after extensive interrogation found no evidence of wrongdoing.
As per reports, the incident took place on August 16 when BJ Singh reportedly crossed into Pakistani territory near the Ajmal Shaheed border post, opposite India’s Bachan Singh Post in the Ferozepur sector. However, he was spotted by Pakistan Rangers, and was detained.
According to Pakistani authorities, Singh told the Rangers that he had left his home in Assam following a heated domestic dispute with his father, Barshan Singh, over family matters. He had gone to Punjab after the domestic dispute, and somehow he wandered into restricted border areas and crossed the international border, leading to his arrest.
For over 100 days, Singh was held in Rangers’ custody without the registration of any legal case or formal charges. He was subjected to intense questioning during this period. However, after 3 months, after concluding that there was no malafide intention behind the infiltration, the Rangers decided to hand him over to police.
After that, and FIR was registered against him by the Punjab Police for illegally entering the country. The FIR states that nothing suspicious was recovered from him during the interrogations.
As there is no other case against the India apart from illegal entry, it is expected that the Pakistani side will follow the establish protocol to deport him to India. It is not known whether the Pakistani authorities have formally contacted the Indian sides over the matter.
