Shamsuddin, jailed in Pakistan on espionage charges, was waiting eight years to meet his family. That wait finally came to an end on Sunday when authorities took the 70-year-old man back to his hometown near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
A smiling Shamsuddin met his sobbing daughters, and his sister lost consciousness upon briefly seeing the 70-year-old man after so long. There was a Diwali-like atmosphere throughout the town where he lived.
Shamsuddin had arrived in India through the Attari-Wagah border on October 26, but was serving the required quarantine period in Amritsar amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
Uttar Pradesh police arrived in Kanpur with Shamsuddin at 9:45 am and handed him over to family members after initial paperwork.
“For us, this Diwali has become memorable. My daughter was also born on Diwali … Her prayers ended, ”said Shamshuddin, HT’s sister website Live Hindustan.
A shoemaker by profession, Shamsuddin was arrested in Pakistan in 2012. He spent eight long years in a Pakistani prison after being convicted on espionage charges.
He was also accused of possessing a false passport.
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