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Release of Pak prisoner from State jail may be delayed

By SANJOY RAY

GUWAHATI, Oct 30 - With the animosity between India and Pakistan continuing, the Centre may delay the release and extradition of prisoners lodged in Indian jails that also include Manir Khan, currently lodged in the Guwahati Central Jail.

The conviction term of Manir Khan of Pakistan, who was arrested in connection with a case in the State in 2010, and is currently lodged in the city jail, ends next year.

Although, the State Prisons department has not received any formal intimation from the Centre in this regard, sources, however, conceded that the matter is being discussed at the highest level.

�Until a couple of years back, we had two Pakistan prisoners in Assam. However, New Delhi had facilitated release of one of them last year, who was later repatriated to his home country. Manir Khan of Bahawalpur village of Pakistan, who was arrested in 2010 and convicted under various sections of the Passport Act and Section 6 of the Imprisonment for Public Protection Act, is the only Pakistani prisoner currently lodged in Assam,� sources said.

Manir Kahn alias Ritesh alias Omar Asas alias Alam Pervez was also arrested in connection with a Paltan Bazar police station case and is facing trial under Sections 120b, 121/121a of the Indian Penal Code.

Top State Government sources, when asked, however rubbished reports that the Pakistan prisoner has been put in a separate cell after tension escalated between the two countries, especially following the Indian Army�s surgical strike in Pakistan.

Fasiullah Khan, another

Pakistani prisoner lodged in Guwahati Central Jail, was released and taken from Guwahati to New Delhi after which he was reportedly repatriated to Pakistan. Fasiullah, too, underwent conviction under sections which were similar in nature to Manir�s case.

Media reports emerging from Islamabad claim that there are 137 Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails of which more than 30 are fishermen. However, the statistics could not be corroborated. India and Pakistan, from time to time, have been pressing for the release and repatriation of their nationals lodged in jails of both the countries.

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