CHANDIGARH: Two members of the Indian High Commission in Pakistan who were abducted on June 15 in an alleged hit-and-run case in the neighbouring country were among five officials who returned to India through the Attari-Wagah border on Monday.
The two men, Selvadhas Paul and Dwimu Brahma, were working as drivers in the Indian High Commission at Islamabad. Sources at the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari said that injury marks were seen on the face, neck and thighs of Selvadhas and Brahma during the medical examination, indicating they were tortured during their 12-hour custody.
The three other officers who returned were Second Secretary S Shiv Kumar, Air Adviser Group Captain Manu Midha and Pankaj. All the five came to the Wagah border in a car from Islamabad and their thermal screening and medical check-up was done at the Attari border before they left for Delhi.
A senior official at the Attari border said, "Five officials of the Indian High Commission crossed into India in the afternoon. The three officials who accompanied Selvadhas and Brahma are on leave and will return to work."
Selvadhas and Brahma were taken away in a separate vehicle from Attari accompanied by a team of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel, while the three others left in another vehicle.
It is learnt that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had granted these officials permission on June 19 to come back as the high commission of India had written to the MEA for their movement via Wagah on June 18.
The two Indian high commission officials were detained by Pakistani intelligence agencies on June 15. The action was seen as a tit-for-tat measure by Pakistan after India arrested two Pakistan High Commission officials on charges of espionage and sent them back.
The Pakistani intelligence agencies blindfolded and handcuffed them. “They were interrogated for 12 hours by a team of at least 10 men,” sources said and added that they were pressured to confess to their involvement in the hit-and-run case.
According to sources, the Pakistani authorities tortured them in a bid to make them confess about their involvement in intelligence gathering activities in the Indian High Commission. The duo was also taken for a medical check up before they were released.
After the two officials of the Indian high commission were detained in Pakistan, India had lodged a protest and summoned the charge d’affaires of the Pakistan High Commission over the abduction and torture of the duo.