Pakistan to release and deport Indian national Hamid Nihal Ansari soon

Pakistani authorities are all set to deport Indian prisoner Hamid Nihal Ansari on Tuesday. Notably, Hamid Nihal Ansari three-year jail term ended on December 15.

The news agency ANI on Monday quoted sources saying, “Indian national Hamid Ansari who is lodged in Kohat Central Jail in Pakistan, to be released tomorrow.”

Sources: Indian national Hamid Ansari who is lodged in Kohat Central Jail in Pakistan, to be released tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/AjYSPoCJEX

— ANI (@ANI) December 17, 2018

This comes days after Pakistan’s top court gave one-month deadline to the federal government to complete formalities to deport Indian prisoner Hamid Ansari. Amid concerns about the prolonged incarceration and ill-treatment of prisoners in Pakistani jails, the Indian government had earlier demanded Islamabad should immediately free Hamid Ansari.

The 33-year-old is currently in Kohat Central Jail after being sentenced by a military court to three years’ imprisonment for allegedly possessing a fake Pakistani identity card on December 15, 2015. Ansari was arrested in 2012 after he allegedly entered northwest Pakistan illegally to meet a woman he befriended online.

It is to be noted that there are at least 11 other Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails who haven’t been released after they completed their sentences and their identities were confirmed by Indian officials.

Also Read: Pakistan: Court orders government to release Indian national