For the second time, the Kartarpur corridor has turned into a bridge for lovers separated by borders. This time, a Sikh youth from Punjab visited the Darbar Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan through the corridor to see his Pakistani girlfriend whom he had met online.
Jatinder Singh reportedly works as a mason in Amritsar while the girl is a postgraduate student at Punjab University in Lahore.
A Pakistani ranger had spotted the two roaming in areas of the gurudwara which are not frequented by pilgrims giving rise to suspicion.
The lovers reportedly admitted during questioning that they wanted to marry and thought the corridor was the best way to meet each other.
Singh was immediately deported back to India. The girl who is a Muslim came to the gurdwara by paying Rs 200 in Pakistani currency which is the entry fee for Muslims in Pakistan who want to visit the holy shrine.
Singh was reportedly told he had to obtain a Pakistani visa and enter Pakistan through the Attari border and then can meet the girl and marry her.
Confirming that he had met the girl, Jatinder Singh said that he was not harassed by the Pakistani officials and also admitted that he met the girl two months ago on Facebook.
Earlier, eighteen days ago, Manjit Kaur from Rohtak in Haryana had gone to Pakistan through the Kartarpur corridor and met her boyfriend Awais Mukhtar in the gurdwara there. She was then sent back by the Pakistani authorities.
In both these cases of cross border love, the Indian authorities at the integrated check post (ICP) at Dera Baba Nanak were caught unawares though they reportedly check the profiles of the pilgrims.