LAHORE, Nov 15: Indian authorities subject Pakistanis arrested for crossing the border ‘illegally’ to severe torture in order to extract their confessions, making them liable to be tried and punished under spying charges.

There are several Pakistani prisoners said to be languishing in Gumtiala Jail in Indian Punjab despite completion of their sentences or detentions.

Similarly, some prisoners, including a woman and two children, incarcerated in Gujrat’s Kach Bujh Jail are also waiting for their release after serving their sentences.

This was disclosed by prisoners who were released by India and handed over to Pakistani authorities on Friday.

They claimed that a majority of Pakistani prisoners crossed the Indo-Pak border “inadvertently” and were facing the wrath of Indian authorities merely on suspicion that they were Pakistan army’s spies.

They alleged that Indian security officials tortured them by giving them electric shocks and clubbing them on their ankle or knee joints during interrogation.

It is worth mentioning that both the Border Security Force (BSF) and Pakistan Rangers, during their last bi-annual meeting held in Lahore some time ago, had unanimously agreed to release “inadvertent” border crossers at the earliest.

As many as 16 out of the 25 men and two women released were handed over to Edhi Foundation late on Friday.

Shahbaz Hussain Mirza, caretaker of Edhi Homes in Gulberg, told Dawn that they had received eight prisoners with lost memory who were also suffering from physical weaknesses.

He said that Maqbool Hussian, of Kot Lakhpat, and Zaheer Abbas, of Duo Wala Bangla in Arifwala tehsil, had been handed over to their families while Muhammad Ahmed, his wife Seema Ahmed and Nazarul Islam, of Karachi, would be sent to their hometown on Sunday (today).

He said that eight prisoners, Muhammad Ashiq, Gulzar Ahmed, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Faqeer Hussian, Baflo Buttar, Liaqat Ali, Afzal and Khadim Karim, had lost their memory and did not know about their hometowns. However, Ashiq’s whereabouts were traced after hectic efforts and he was handed over to his family hailing from Narowal.

Revealing his ordeal to Dawn, 21-year-old Zaheer said that he along with his four friends went to the bank of River Ravi for fishing on Dec 21, 2006.

“As we got closer to the barbed wire separating the two sides, some BSF officials raised alarm and asked us to sit down. I sat on the ground in fear while my fellows fled,” he said and added that BSF officials directed him to get closer to the barbed wire further and later they took him into custody despite the fact that he was still in Pakistan’s territorial jurisdiction.

He said that BSF officials started torturing him while questioning as to why he had crossed the border and whether he had any links with Pakistan Army.

“I was taken to a police station in Amrtisar where I was interrogated and tortured by clubbing and effecting electric shocks,” Zaheer, who worked in a factory as a technician, added.

Later, an Amritsar court sentenced him to three-month imprisonment for crossing the border illegally and sent him to Gumtiala Jail.

He said though the court had exonerated him from spying charges, he remained in jail even after serving his three-month sentence.

“I could not recover physically till two months after the arrest as Indian officials kept torturing me in an attempt to get the ‘motive’ behind border crossing,” Zaheer said.

He said a couple — Ahmed and Seema — who were arrested by Indian authorities for using fake visas two years back, were also kept in the same jail along with eight mentally-ill prisoners.

He said that Mukhtar, of Kasur, Chacha Akbar, of Narowal, and Abu Saleem and Haroon, of Lahore, were among those prisoners who had served their sentences up to 10 years but were still confined there.

Jumma Pahlaj, a Hindu belonging to Jafar Laghari village in Sanjuru tehsil of Sanghar district, said he and his friend Misri Lal crossed the border inadvertently in darkness of night after visiting a festival near Tharparkar in 2001.

Pahlaj, who was 16 years old at the time of his arrest, said that BSF officials took them to Banas Katha police station of Gujrat where they were subjected to severe torture. He said that they underwent 10-month detention at the police station before they were sent to Kach Bujh Jail of Gujrat without fixing any charges.

“There are at least 21 prisoners, including Jan Muhammad and Faqeer Muhammad Bicchu, who have been incarcerated in Gujrat jail despite they have completely served their sentences spanning over several years,” he added.