India releases two Pakistani nationals, including 21-year-old who crossed over in 2017 to meet Shah Rukh Khan

Amritsar: India sent home Wednesday two Pakistani nationals, including a 21-year-old who said he had crossed over in 2017 to meet Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan. Abdullah and Mohammed Imran Qureshi Warsi were repatriated through the Attari-Wagah border on the basis of an emergency travel certificate issued by the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, officials said. While Abdullah was detained at Attari after he had crossed over without any documents, Warsi spent around a decade in Bhopal jail on charges of “forgery and spying” after coming to India in 2004. [caption id=“attachment_5795621” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Released Pakistani prisoners Abdullah Khan and Mohammad Imran Qureshi Warsi. PTI[/caption] Abdullah said he had come to witness the Beating Retreat Ceremony held every evening at the border gates. He crossed the Zero Line after the ceremony and told BSF officials that he had wanted to meet Shah Rukh Khan, officials said. “It was my childhood dream to come to India and meet Shah Rukh Khan,” he said before his repatriation. He said since his dream was not fulfilled this time, he will come back again to meet the actor. The other Pakistani national, Warsi, had come to India with proper documents to meet his relatives in Kolkata. He stayed on in the country for four years even after the expiry of his visa. He had also allegedly obtained a ration card and some other documents during his stay. In 2008, he was arrested while on his way to Bhopal to get a passport, an official at Attari said. Warsi said he was very happy as he will be able to meet his parents and siblings who all live in Karachi’s Gulshan Iqbal area. He married an Indian woman who is from Kolkata and the couple has two children. He plans to bring the family legally to Pakistan later, the officials said.