LUCKNOW: It is going to be a reunion with his family for 70-year-old Shamsuddin of Bajaria, Kanpur. He has returned from Pakistan after completing eight years in a jail in Karachi after he was arrested in 2012 on the suspicion of being a spy.
Shamsuddin’s wait is about to be over as he has completed his quarantine period after crossing over to India through the Wagah-Attari border in Punjab on October 26.
A resident of Beri Kak Hata in Kanghi Mohal under Bajaria police station, Shamsuddin was sentenced by a Pakistan court to eight years in prison in 2012 for espionage and possessing a fake passport. He was lodged in Karachi Jail on October 24, 2012.
He is an expert in making shoe uppers. His saga of woes started actually in 1992 when he left Kanpur for Delhi in search of employment. He was misguided by one of his Pakistani relatives who took him along to the neighbouring country. His relative reportedly made forged papers claiming that Shamsuddin is a Pakistani national.
After spending almost two decades with a fake identity, Shamshuddin was nabbed by the intelligence when he tried to get his passport renewed to return to India in 2012.
Pak authorities dubbed him as an Indian spy who entered the country illegally. They aso charged him with being involved in anti-national crimes and forging documents.
Officials in Amritsar administration contacted his family in Kanpur and asked them to come over and take him along as his quarantine term at Narayangarh rehabilitation centre gets over on Monday.
According to Sisamau circle officer Tripurari Pandey, legal formalities were being completed to bring Shamsuddin back to Kanpur and reunite him with his family. Shamshuddin is expected to reach Kanpur by Tuesday or Wednesday. “It is a matter of great relief and joy for his family that he is coming home after a torturous imprisonment in Pakistan,” said Pandey.