2 abducted high commission staffers return via Wagah

THE TWO STAFFERS, WHO WERE WORKING AS DRIVERS IN INDIAN HIGH COMMISSION IN PAK, WERE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE OFFICIALS ON THEIR RETURN

AMRITSAR: The two staff members of the Indian high commission in Pakistan, who were abducted and tortured by the Inter-services Intelligence (ISI), and framed in a case of road rage in the neighbouring country recently, returned to India via the Attariwagah border, 32 km from Amritsar, on Monday.

The two staff members, Paul Selvadhas and Dwimu Brahma, who were working as drivers in the Indian high commission in Pakistan, were accompanied by three Indian officials on their return.

“Five members of the Indian high commission crossed over to India at 1pm,” a senior Border Security Force (BSF) official said.

Selvadhas and Brahma were abducted by 15 armed men from a fuel station near the Indian high commission in Pakistan on June 15. They were kept in detention for 12 hours and beaten up with rods and lathis and made to drink dirty water.

According to sources, the three officials who accompanied Selvadhas and Brahma are on leave and will return to work.

According to officials at the Integrated Check Post (ICP), Attari injury marks were visible on Selvadhas and Brahma.

They were taken away in a separate vehicle from the ICP, which was escorted by a team of the Central Industrial Security Force, while the three other staff members left the ICP in another car.

Sources said the high commission of India had written to the ministry of foreign affairs (MFA) in Islamabad for the movement of the five officials via Wagah on June 18. The MFA had granted permission on June 19.

The two staffers were interrogated regarding the role and function of all high commission officials. Reports in the Pakistani media claimed that the Indian officials had been arrested after their car allegedly hit a pedestrian near the diplomatic enclave. The Indian officials had said that their kidnappers made multiple videos in which the two staffers were forced to confess under duress that they were involved in the accident.

The two men were handed back to the Indian high commission at 9pm on June 15. They were released after the Pakistani charge d’affaires in New Delhi was summoned to the foreign ministry of India and a strong protest was lodged.

An FIR by Islamabad police claimed fake Pakistani currency was found in the car in which the two were travelling.

The Indian authorities refuted the charges.