PUBG pyaar vs police: Why Pakistan’s Seema Haider and her Indian partner are on the radar of anti-terror cops

Seema Haider, a Pakistani national, whose love story with an Indian man has hogged the limelight recently, is now being questioned by the Anti-Terror Squad of the Uttar Pradesh Police, as per reports. Seema had entered India without a visa, along with her four children, to be with Greater Noida local Sachin Meena, whom she met through an online gaming platform. According to NDTV, Sachin, his father – Netrapal Singh – and Seema are being interrogated at an undisclosed location in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida. The development comes days after the trio were released on bail by a court in Noida. What do we know about Seema Haider and why is she under the radar of the anti-terrorism squad? Let’s take a closer look. What is known about Seema Haider As per news agency PTI, Seema used to live in Pakistan’s Gulistan-e-Jauhar in Karachi. Around 10 years ago, she had left for Karachi to marry Ghulam Haider against her parent’s approval, reported _Hindustan Times (_HT). Ghulam Haider currently works in Saudi Arabia and has urged the Indian government to repatriate Seema and their children back to Pakistan. Seema and Sachin’s love story According to media reports, Seema and Sachin met through the gaming app PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) during the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2020. Eventually, they fell in love. “I used to talk to many strangers online while playing PUBG because I kept the mic on. That’s how I met Sachin, and we started chatting on the chatbox. We used to play for hours on end, even four hours and never stopped talking. After about four months, we exchanged phone numbers and began communicating via voice and video. We confessed our love for each other by January 2021,” Seema told HT. Seema and Sachin first met in Nepal in March this year, where they tied the knot, as per the NDTV report. “It was such a long and gruelling journey. I was very scared too. I first went from Karachi to Dubai, where we waited for 11 hours and couldn’t sleep. We then flew to Nepal, before finally taking the road to Pokhara, where I met Sachin,” Seema was quoted as saying by the news channel. [caption id=“attachment_12878422” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Seema Haider and Sachin Meena are reportedly being questioned by the anti-terror police in UP. PTI File Photo[/caption] According to NDTV, Seema, who claims strife with her husband, then went back to Pakistan and Sachin returned to India. She sold a plot for 12 lakh Pakistani Rupees and bought flight tickets and a Nepal visa for herself and her children. Seema then reached Nepal’s Pokhara city from Dubai in May. Later, she travelled to Delhi from Kathmandu. She and her children reached Greater Noida on 13 May, where Sachin had made living arrangements for them, NDTV reported. The couple started staying together in a rented accommodation in Greater Noida’s Rabupura area. How their tale came to light On 4 July, Seema and Sachin were arrested in Haryana’s Ballabhgarh town after a lawyer whom they had approached for marriage alerted the police about her illegal travel, as per India Today. While Seema was put behind bars for entering India without a visa, Sachin and his father were apprehended for sheltering illegal immigrants. An FIR was lodged at the local Rabupura police station under provisions of the Foreigners Act, the Passport (Entry into India) Act, and section 120B (party to criminal conspiracy) and 34 (act done by several people with common intention), deputy commissioner of police (Greater Noida) Saad Miya Khan had told PTI.  The trio were later granted bail by a court in Greater Noida. “My husband is a Hindu, so I am a Hindu. I feel I am an Indian now,” Seema told NDTV earlier in July following their release from prison. Why is she under the radar? According to HT, a senior UP police officer said the interrogation is necessary from a security standpoint. The officer pointed to various rumours being spread about Seema, one of them alleging her of being a Pakistani spy. “As per protocol, the UP ATS informed the local Greater Noida police that they will be questioning Haider, Meena and Singh in relation to concerns regarding national security. When the three were arrested by Gautam Budh Nagar police last month, central agencies and the Uttar Pradesh anti-terror squad had been alerted by us. Hence, they are carrying out investigations on their end as per procedure,” Anand Kulkarni, additional commissioner of police, Gautam Budh Nagar, said, as per HT. He also asserted the couple and Sachin’s father were not “picked up” by the ATS and were only being questioned, the newspaper added. Speaking to India Today previously, Seema had rejected the allegations of her being a spy. “No such thing. The truth will come out eventually. If this was true, I would have come to India alone, not with my innocent children”. Threats Gau Raksha Hindu Dal, a Hindu right-wing outfit, has recently threatened to launch an agitation if Seema Haider is not sent back to Pakistan. “We won’t tolerate a woman from a traitorous nation. If Seema Haider does not leave the country in 72 hours, we will begin an agitation,” India Today quoted Ved Nagar, the organisation’s national president, as saying. Nagar alleged Seema could be a Pakistani spy and pose a threat to India. On 12 July, the traffic control room of Mumbai Police got a call from an unidentified person warning of a 26/11-like terror attack if Seema Haider did not return to Pakistan.

Maharashtra: Mumbai police control room received a threat call yesterday in which the caller threatened the police to prepare for a 26/11 terrorist attack if Pakistani national Seema Haider does not return to Pakistan. Mumbai Police and Crime Branch are probing the matter: Mumbai…

— ANI (@ANI) July 13, 2023

The threat call is being investigated by the Mumbai police. With inputs from agencies