Telangana Man Who Crossed Border To Meet Girlfriend, Returns Home After Serving 4-Years In Pak Jail

The incident happened four years ago when the 32-year-old man identified as Waindam Prashant was arrested by Bahawalpur police along with another person for crossing the border without any papers and authorised documents. 

Image: ANI/Twitter

Hyderabad: A man, who went missing from Telangana's Madhapur area in 2017 and was detained in Pakistan after he crossed the border illegally to allegedly meet his girlfriend, has finally returned home after four years.

The Cyberabad Police on Tuesday informed that a city-based IT professional, who was arrested by Pakistani authorities, has been released and brought back. 

The incident happened four years ago when the 32-year-old man identified as Waindam Prashant was arrested by Bahawalpur police along with another person for crossing the border without any papers and authorised documents. 

According to media reports, a video of him surfaced on social media sites later where he could be seen saying that he was in Pakistani prison while trying to go to Switzerland to meet his girlfriend. Later, the family members also got a message that he was detained in Pakistan.

Acknowledging the viral video, his family lodged a missing complaint at Madhapur Police Station. Taking note of the complaint, police officials made all efforts to trace the missing person. Youth's father Babu Rao had also approached Sajjanar who in turn wrote to the State government and Ministry of External Affairs seeking his extradition from Pakistan.

"After serving his sentence in Pakistan, he was handed over to Indian Immigration Authorities at Attari border yesterday. Today we brought him to Hyderabad. We handed over Prashant to his family members," Sajjanar said, as reported by PTI.

On returning home, the man thanked the Telangana government and External Affairs Ministry for their efforts. He reportedly told the press that he was treated well in the Lahore prison by Jail authorities and inmates.

Talking to ANI he said that he thought it would be an adventure but it was a foolish decision to cross the border. 

I'm happy to be back home. I entered Pakistan via the Thar Desert in Rajasthan. I thought it would be an adventure but it was a foolish decision. I was produced in Pakistan court after 2 years of imprisonment & interrogation: Prashanth, who was jailed in Pak, repatriated to India pic.twitter.com/Jn83LyLapk

— ANI (@ANI) June 2, 2021