Man, wife arrested on their return from Pak after 24 years

JAMMU: A man who returned to Kashmir after spending 24 years in Pakistan has been arrested along with his Pakistani wife in Poonch district, police said.

The man identified as Mohammed Sashir Bhat, a resident of Saujian in the Mandi tehsil, and his Pakistani wife were arrested yesterday after they returned here, with their four children, through the Nepal route, a senior police officer said.

"Bhat returned to his village along with his Pakistani wife Nousheen Bhat and four children, including a son and three daughters," the officer said, adding, they were arrested for not having valid papers.

Bhat had crossed to the other side of the border (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) in 1991.

"Initial questioning revealed that he had somehow got a Pakistani passport and then he reached Nepal, from where he crossed the Nepal border and reached India," police said.

A case has been registered in this regard and an investigation has been initiated, they added.