Indian prisoner Hamid Nihal Ansari released from Pakistan jail
Pakistan today released Indian prisoner Hamid Nihal Ansari, whose three-year jail term ended Saturday, days after a top court gave a one-month deadline to the government to complete formalities to deport him. Ansari, a 33-year-old Mumbai resident, was lodged in the Peshawar Central Jail, after a military court sentenced him to three years' imprisonment on December-15, 2015, for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card.
Ansari crossed border to meet a girl he befriended online
Foreign Office Spokesperson Mohammad Faisal claimed that Ansari was an "Indian spy who had illegally entered Pakistan." "Ansari, who was "involved in anti-state crimes and forging documents, is being released upon completion of his sentence and is being repatriated to India," the spokesperson said. Ansari was arrested in 2012 for illegally entering Pakistan from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.
Ansari's release was held up because legal documents weren't ready
Ansari's jail term ended on December 15, but he was not able to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready. On Thursday, the Peshawar High Court granted the federal government a month deadline to complete his repatriation process.
