Indian spy Hamid Nehal Ansari crosses Wagah border after repatriation from Pakistan
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Indian citizen Hamid Nehal Ansari, who served a three-year sentence for espionage in Pakistan, crossed over to the Indian side of the Wagah-Attari border on Tuesday, a day after Islamabad announced his release.
The convicted spy was handed over to Indian officials at Wagah border after being taken to Lahore from Mardan jail. He crossed over to the Attari side at around 5pm PST, Hindustan Times reported.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal had earlier today announced that Ansari would be sent back to India today via the Wagah border.
According to jail officials in Mardan, Ansari was transported to Lahore from Mardan jail amid tight security. His lawyer Qazi Anwar also confirmed the release of the Indian national.
"I talked to the superintendent of Mardan jail and he informed me that Ansari was released at 7:25am from the jail and shifted to Lahore in high security," Anwar told DawnNewsTV.
The spy's family had reached the Attari border to receive him.
The FO spokesperson had announced Ansari's repatriation on Monday. The Indian national completed his three-year sentence for espionage and other crimes on Saturday.
Ansari was taken into custody by the police and Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials in Kohat in November 2012 and was later court-martialled by a military tribunal. He was convicted and sentenced to three years in jail in December 2015. He was lodged in the Peshawar central jail and later shifted to the Mardan prison.
The Peshawar High Court last week directed the interior ministry to ensure his deportation within a month of the completion of his sentence.
Earlier reports said Ansari had, during the course of his trial, confessed to illegally entering Pakistan from Afghanistan for espionage and maintaining multiple Facebook and email accounts. Sensitive documents were seized from his possession.
Ansari’s family claimed he entered Pakistan through Afghanistan for meeting a girl he had befriended online.
He had initially gone missing from Kohat in 2012. Three years later, the defence ministry — in response to a habeas corpus petition filed by his mother — acknowledged that he was in custody and was being court-martialled.
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On DawnNews
Comments (98) Closed
Dec 18, 2018 01:20pm
He is innocent guy who was in live with a pastun girl. Pls don't label him as terrorist.
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Dec 18, 2018 01:26pm
Indians would have hanged a Pakistani spy on made up terror charges and we are sending their spy back? I am 100% against appeasement policy which never worked in the past and will especially never work under Modi-government.
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Dec 18, 2018 01:27pm
Had India captured our spy, they would have kept him forever or killed him. We should make him an example for others, who are thinking to enter our country illegally and harming it.
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Dec 18, 2018 01:29pm
Indian spy. Is it?
He now has learnt a lesson ,not to fall in love ONLINE .
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Dec 18, 2018 01:32pm
He is not spy..Love is blind and he was blinded by love and crossed the border illegally.If intelligence was so transparent then why woman journalist who was trying to help him got disappeared.
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Dec 18, 2018 01:38pm
. . . 'Ansari’s family claimed he entered Pakistan through Afghanistan for meeting a girl he had befriended online.' . . .
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Dec 18, 2018 01:39pm
Pakistan is definitely the more humane nation.
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Dec 18, 2018 01:43pm
What about Pak prisoners in Indian jails ?
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Dec 18, 2018 01:46pm
He was not a spy. He came to Pakistan for his love relationship.
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Dec 18, 2018 01:48pm
Pakistan keeps making good gestures and India keeps ignoring them. About time Pakistan realizes that India just isnt interested.
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Dec 18, 2018 02:00pm
@Sree, Via Afghanistan mean terrorism- why not came through proper visa?
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Dec 18, 2018 02:03pm
I hope he has learnt the lesson of life. Rivalry between two countries is very high and it is very unsafe to go for such endeavors. It is simply not worth it.
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Dec 18, 2018 02:06pm
Welcome Back.
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Dec 18, 2018 02:07pm
@Sree, yes you may be right. He might not be a spy. But The Govt of both countries have same type of history to declare such persons terrorist and spies. The environment simply not good for such type of love.So lovers should wait until some miracles happen.
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Dec 18, 2018 02:07pm
He's not a spy Mr.FO.
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Dec 18, 2018 02:12pm
A spy's far cry didn't prove to be dry as upon completion of his sentence, he is being repatriated back home. Maybe, his next assignment could be in Hawaii?
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Dec 18, 2018 02:16pm
Can civilians be court-martialed?
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Dec 18, 2018 02:18pm
Kulbhushan will also get release soon,
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Dec 18, 2018 02:19pm
Why is he being sent back? He should be tried for espionage and made the face of Indian covert operations against Pakistan. He is another example like Kulbushan of how Pakistan tries to mediate peace and is responded to by India in the form of only threats and ill will.
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Dec 18, 2018 02:23pm
Its been six years imprisonment.Why its repeatedly mentioned three years.
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Dec 18, 2018 02:35pm
@Shah, Lack of knowledge.
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Dec 18, 2018 03:03pm
Salman Khan ready to announce movie on it
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Dec 18, 2018 03:09pm
@VM, LoLs! Yes of course
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Dec 18, 2018 03:20pm
@ADIL MUSTAFA, - We've been saying that all along. You guys just don't get it.
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Dec 18, 2018 03:24pm
@Omer, He is innocent
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Dec 18, 2018 05:06pm
@Omer, you lack knowledge and information.
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Dec 18, 2018 05:28pm
@Ujla sitara, his intension were not innocent
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Dec 18, 2018 05:39pm
@Sree, Anyone entering a foreign country without legal documents will be changed according to the law of the country he or she enters.
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Dec 18, 2018 05:45pm
@Omer, : Indian security agencies should keep an eye on him.
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Dec 18, 2018 05:53pm
nice article
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Dec 18, 2018 06:36pm
I don't understand why it is such a big deal. If he crossed the border illegally, he should be punished (he was in jail for 3 years) and send back to his country. Why even calling him as a "spy" without supporting evidence???
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Dec 18, 2018 07:00pm
@Shah It is not a simple case as it looks from pak media prospective. Why don't they trace the trace the girl and get her side of story ? Also as per Vienna convention if other country national is caught, this has to be reported back to that country. Why Pakistan kept quite three big years before accepting that Ansari is in their custody.
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Dec 18, 2018 07:02pm
How do you claim of his innocence?
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Dec 18, 2018 07:27pm
@Shah, you don't have much options
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Dec 18, 2018 07:37pm
@Shah, try to keep wih other news and learn how many of yours have been caught doing much more damage. Indians are not fools and try to gather information from all sources unlike you
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Dec 18, 2018 07:50pm
Not lebal as spy. He is innocent and enter without paper in pakistan for meet har girlfriend.
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Dec 18, 2018 07:56pm
Wondering why the media is changing the narrative in 'naya pakistan'. May be toeing the line.
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Dec 18, 2018 07:58pm
The court sentenced him for crime that was proven. I am glad that the government respected the law and did not keep him in jail longer than he was sentenced to be in jail.
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Dec 18, 2018 08:02pm
@Shah, then please send kulbhushan also
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Dec 18, 2018 08:13pm
The fact remains that he broke Pakistani laws and entered illegally. Try this in India under the cover of love, can any Indian guarantee me that the person who tried this, won't get punished? Even if Indian LEAs won't label him terrorist, Indian media sure as hell would not miss the chance.
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Dec 18, 2018 08:24pm
Please send Kulbhushan also.
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Dec 18, 2018 08:45pm
Sir, He is an educated software engineer and was in love with a Pakistan Girl on Facebook. He went there to meet his girlfriend. Please do not consider him a spay. He is just an innocent human being.
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Dec 18, 2018 08:47pm
Ujla which resource did you get this information from? Why didn't he try a legal route then?
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Dec 18, 2018 08:50pm
Why release him if he is a spy?
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Dec 18, 2018 08:54pm
Now that many Indian citizens can enter legally from our Eastern borders, he took the circuitous route of coming from Afghanistan? I am no genius of geography but can someond draw a straight line on a map? Very lame excuse for entering Pakistan.
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Dec 18, 2018 08:57pm
Cross over to India.You will be always suspected as spy their also.
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Dec 18, 2018 09:11pm
India should repatriate 10 pakistani civilians in Indian Jails,,,,
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Dec 18, 2018 09:13pm
@Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad, It seems Govt. of India informs all its plans to you!
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Dec 18, 2018 09:40pm
@Joe, and kulbushan is a trader. he could have applied for a visa you know.
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Dec 18, 2018 09:44pm
@Ujla sitara, for innocents there are valid visa channels to enter Pakistan.
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Dec 18, 2018 09:46pm
@Proud to be Indian, innocent of what entering a country without visa or travel documents? you cant cross an international border without visa.
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Dec 18, 2018 09:51pm
When will thousands of innocent Pakistanis will be freed from Indian jails?
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Dec 18, 2018 10:27pm
Funny to see Indians finding excuses for this guy. Indians had arrested a Pakistani piegon few years ago, labelled it as a "spy" and clipped the wings so it couldn't return back to Pakistan. Now a guy from India enters Pakistan with no legal documents and they start defending him.
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Dec 18, 2018 10:33pm
Spy??? Sure!!!
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Dec 18, 2018 10:41pm
@RAT , I disagree with you.
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Dec 18, 2018 10:48pm
@Imran Ahmed, yes
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Dec 18, 2018 11:14pm
@Divakar, Sure they will, his name is Ansari
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Dec 18, 2018 11:26pm
@TN, pl go through procedures to learn how hard it is.
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Dec 18, 2018 11:28pm
@Iqbal@US, then why do you insist on talking talks
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Dec 18, 2018 11:30pm
How long was this man detained in total in Pakistan? 3 years or 6 years?
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Dec 18, 2018 11:39pm
At least he only spent three years, imagine a Pakistani caught by the Indians, he would rot in jail his entire life
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Dec 18, 2018 11:42pm
Indians should thank Pakistan for letting this spy go free in the name of humanity...
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Dec 18, 2018 11:47pm
Three years for court martial and three years jail, total six years. India claims he is a computer engineer who trespassed to Pakistan to meet his lady love whom he befriended online and Pakistan says he was an Indian spy. Two versions of the same incident. Anyway, good for him and his family that he has gone back alive to his home.
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Dec 19, 2018 12:01am
@Sree, Via Afghanistan without Pakistani visa
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Dec 19, 2018 12:05am
Really spy ????
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Dec 19, 2018 12:46am
@ADIL MUSTAFA, are bliend to medical visa and medical treatment give to Pakistan in nationals in India?
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Dec 19, 2018 12:47am
@Ujla sitara, Do you know he entered Pakistan illegally? This proves he was Modi's Spy like Yadav and terrorists.
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Dec 19, 2018 01:40am
Good riddance.
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Dec 19, 2018 02:30am
@Shah, He was not a spy but still was in jail for 6 years what else u want.
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Dec 19, 2018 02:31am
@Ujla sitara, You are right -- he is not a terrorist
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Dec 19, 2018 04:53am
For all Indians showing their loyalty and as usual supporting their own narrative and beating their drums - spies use always disguise tactics; a lover, a businessman, a trader, an art performer, and so forth. Sympathy to that poor girl who was used as a bait unknowingly. Anyway, there are many lovers across the border who have followed more legal ways to meet and see each other.
Always there are 02 sides of stories told!
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Dec 19, 2018 04:57am
And Indian National, entering into pakistan illegally from Afghanistan boarder without proper paperwork.
Sound normal right ?
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Dec 19, 2018 05:22am
Which spy gets let off within 3 years of conviction.. especially in the India-Pakistan spy games.
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Dec 19, 2018 06:02am
When there are 650 million women in India he crossed the border looking for love.
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Dec 19, 2018 06:49am
@Shah, i think you don't know the difference between a spy and terrorist.
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Dec 19, 2018 07:33am
@Shah, There is proof that. he is not a spy. He was after a girl. He was earning good salary in Mumbai. He was no military back ground. It days love has blind eyes.
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Dec 19, 2018 07:53am
We release their spy and they kill our innocent.
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Dec 19, 2018 08:12am
Look at the conversion of Ansari in his snaps when he moved from India to Pakistan and back from Pakistan. An apt illustration of reverse-evolution!
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Dec 19, 2018 09:00am
Come back again, this time with a visa.
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Dec 19, 2018 09:04am
Now no one from India will love through Online across the border.
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Dec 19, 2018 09:24am
People seem to forget Sania Mirza and Shoab Malik relation, it is also across the border inspite of eligible partners present in both countries. Since they are privileged, they can easliy do it but a normal man tries the foolish way and he enters into mess.
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Dec 19, 2018 10:58am
@Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad, What lyrical English Salaria! The only missing point is your usual advice to hang on tough - in love in this case.
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Dec 19, 2018 02:55pm
Ujla sitara "He is innocent guy who was in live with a pastun girl. Pls don't label him as terrorist."
So why travel illegally?
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Dec 19, 2018 04:09pm
Multiple Facebook accounts!!! Who does espionage using Facebook??
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Dec 19, 2018 04:11pm
@Shah,
He is not spy hence a reason your court has allowed him to go back
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Dec 19, 2018 05:19pm
@Iqbal@US, Good said. It is simply not worth it.
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Dec 19, 2018 05:22pm
@Omer, Foolish statement with inadequate knowledge.
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Dec 19, 2018 09:56pm
@ande1206, Pakistanis do.
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Dec 19, 2018 11:24pm
@Pakistani, "The court sentenced him for crime that was proven."
Not in a civilian court. Because his home country was not informed, no assistance was provided.
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Dec 20, 2018 01:53am
@Omer, we don't lie it's real democracy not fake one
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Dec 20, 2018 04:43am
Did any Pakistani reporter or official tried to verify Ansari’s family claim that Mr Ansari entered Pakistan through Afghanistan for meeting a girl he had befriended online?
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Dec 20, 2018 07:25am
@Shah, Those terrorists arrested in India were all Indians citizens including Ajmal Kasab, Pakistani can never involve in spying and if there is any, they will prefer to kill himself.
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Dec 20, 2018 11:38am
@Lahori kid, Depending what evidence is there
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Dec 21, 2018 09:47am
@Imran Ahmed, yes, if hewas spying for enemy country.
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Dec 21, 2018 09:48am
@Proud to be Indian, He is as innocent as Modi.
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Dec 21, 2018 09:51am
India can now very well drag Pakistan in ICJ for inadequate charges and prolonged detention.
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Dec 21, 2018 11:47pm
@Saad, good move to join ISPR or dailymailnews. And the way it is going, Dawn too.
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Dec 21, 2018 11:48pm
@Saif Zulfiqar, he was convicted for illegal entry and not for being a spy.
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