761 Pakistanis currently detained in Indian prisons: Qureshi

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has told the National Assembly that around 1,786 Pakistanis are imprisoned in 14 countries for various crimes, out of which 761 are imprisoned in Indian jails.

He also said that 1,020 of his country’s citizens were detained in 13 countries for various crimes with only two facing terrorism charges.

Out of the 1,786 prisoners, 22 were imprisoned in four Central Asian states, two in Kenya, three in Uganda, two in Senegal, 31 in South Africa, five in Seychelles, one in Zambia, four in Philippines, 761 in India, 132 in Thailand and 823 in the UAE, the Daily Times quoted Qureshi, as saying in a written reply to the House.

The NA was informed that as of January 1 a total of 761 Pakistani prisoners were imprisoned in Indian jails, out of which 698 were civilians, 45 were fishermen and 18 were missing defence personnel.

They were predominantly civilian prisoners and charges against them pertain to illegal/inadvertent border crossing, visa violations or over stay, the paper said.

Overall, a majority of them are reportedly facing charges of drug trafficking followed by forgery, holding fake travel documents, theft, murder, cheque bouncing, immigration rules violation, kidnapping and rape.

The two Pakistanis imprisoned in Thailand are reportedly the only two facing charges of terrorism. Among those arrested in the Central Asian states, 14 were in Azerbaijan, four in Georgia, two each in Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. (ANI)