Madhya Pradesh youth languishing in Pakistan jail since 2013 to be released on 4 May after MEA intervenes

A Madhya Pradesh youth who has been languishing in a Pakistan jail since 2013 will be released on 4 May. The Pakistan interior ministry issued a notice announcing the release, repatriation and transportation of Jitendar Arjunwar after intervention from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). In April,  Firstpost  reported how Arjunwar, who was diagnosed with sickle cell anaemia, was incarcerated in a Pakistan jail despite having completed his jail term because the MEA had not verified his nationality. According to a report in  The Hindu, the government confirmed they verified Arjunwar’s identity on 6 April. “The MEA has confirmed to its Pakistan counterpart that Arjunwar is an Indian citizen. We have sent documents related to his citizenship on Wednesday as demanded by the MEA and the Ministry of Home Affairs,” said Tarun Nayak, Superintendent of Police, Seoni. This led to the Pakistan interior ministry ordering his release from Karachi’s Malir jail on 4 May. Arjunwar, who reportedly left home after a quarrel with his mother, accidentally crossed over into Pakistan and was arrested in August 2013. Arjunwar was sent to juvenile prison in the country’s Hyderabad city in Sindh province, PTI reported. [caption id=“attachment_4451497” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Jitendar Arjunwar. Firstpost/Beena Sarwar[/caption] Arjunwar crossed the border near Khokhrapar and was arrested by Pakistan rangers at Cheta Chowk. According to Khokhrapar police SHO Khurshid Bhatti, the teenager spoke both Urdu and English, the newspaper  Dawn reported. The boy told police his name and said he was the son of Aishurya Arjunwar, and that he was a resident of Madhya Pradesh. He had a quarrel with his mother about two months ago and left his home in anger, he told police, adding that he kept wandering around India. After nearly a month, he reached a place where he found barbed wires and thought that the wires had been placed to stop livestock in the area. He dug out soil beneath the wires and continued his journey, he added. Arjunwar was presented before the Additional District and Sessions Court in Umerkot, where he was sentenced to a year-long imprisonment. However, the conviction expired on 14 July, 2014, and subsequently, he was given consular access in January 2015. With inputs from agencies