Indian Man Jailed In Pakistan Jail For 36 Years Set to Be Released

Gajendra Sharma, a man reported missing from Jaipur for the past 36 years was found in a Pakistani jail in May 2018.

(Photo: iStock)

Gajendra Sharma, a man reported missing from Jaipur for the past 36 years has been found in a Pakistani jail and will be released on 13 August.

Jaipur MP Ramcharan Bohra, on Thursday, 9 August, said Sharma was traced to Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore, in May 2018, reported IANS.

Bohra, accompanied by Sharma’s wife, their son and local BJP leaders, met Union Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh, who sought Sharma’s early release. The Minister reportedly assured him that Sharma would be released on August 13 from the Lahore jail.

Sharma was initially jailed for two months, but due to lack of consular access, he had to spend over three decades behind bars in the Pakistani jail.

His family claims he disappeared in 1982 and that they were clueless about his whereabouts till 4 May 2018, when they received a letter from the local police. The Superintendent of Police (Rural), Jaipur, had received a few papers from Pakistan asking for Sharma's citizenship.

The documents were forwarded to the Samod police station for further verification as Sharma’s original address came under the jurisdiction of that police station. The documents were enough to confirm Sharma’s presence in the Lahore Central Jail, Bohra said.

Sharma's wife Makhani Devi said her husband worked as a labourer and had left home without informing anybody. Since his disappearance, she had started working as a peon in a private hospital, reported IANS.

It is not known how Sharma ended up in the Pakistani jail.

(With inputs from IANS)