Missing Sikh pilgrim found at FB friend’s house in Pak
A 24-year-old Sikh pilgrim, who was part of a Baisakhi jatha and had gone missing in Pakistan, was found at his “Facebook friend’s” house in Sheikhupura, about 50 kms from Lahore, on Monday.
Amarjit Singh, a resident of Baba Bakala in Amritsar, had gone to Pakistan along with other 1,700 Sikh pilgrims on April 12. But his disappearance was only noticed when the entourage came back to Amritsar on April 21.
A Geo TV report said that Amarijit would be handed over to the Indian authorities at the Attari-Wagah border on Tuesday.
Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) spokesperson Amir Hashmi said: “Amarjit has been found and will be sent back to India on Tuesday. He had arrived at Nankana Sahib and had left the group to meet his Facebook friend - Amir Razzak in Sheikhupura. “Razzak’s family had contacted the board and told us about his (Amarjit’s) stay at his residence. Today, both Amarjit and Razzak visited the ETPB office in Lahore.”
“Amarjit said he had not gone missing. He thought that he had a one-month visa and he would return to India after spending a couple of week with his friend here,” added Hashmi.
A source told PTI that Pakistani intelligence agencies have quizzed Singh for ‘several hours’ over his ‘missing’. “
After it was established that he had not deliberately disappeared and had no links with the Indian intelligence agency, Amarjit was handed over to the ETPB to be deported to India,” he said. BSF DIG (Punjab border) JS Obrai, however, said he had no information on Amarjit being handed over to the Indian authorities.
Amid the row over two pilgrims, part of a group that the SGPC had sent to Pakistan, not returning to the country, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) said, on Monday, that intelligence agencies are supposed to check credentials of people wanting to visit Pakistan gurdwaras.
“The SGPC is a religious body tasked with the management of Sikh shrines. While recommending the names, we cannot check on the background of visa applicants. Security and intelligence agencies are supposed to do this job; they have failed to prevent such incidents,” said SGPC spokesperson Diljit Singh Bedi.
Amarjit Singh Bhalaipur, the SGPC member from Khadoor Sahib segment, had recommended the name of Amarjit Singh, one of those missing. “I recommended the name for the pilgrimage after the sarpanch and nambardar of Niranjan Pur village visited and requested that his name be included. The incident resulted due to lapse on the part of the law and order machinery.” HTC