India to release Pakistani prisoner

New Delhi: Days after Indian citizen Hamid Nehal Ansari was released and sent back home, a Pakistani prisoner will also be released by New Delhi. Imran Warsi will be handed over to Pakistani authorities at the Wagah Border on December 26. Warsi, who married an Indian woman, has been incarcerated in Bhopal for 10 years. In 2003, he travelled from Karachi to Kolkata in 2004 and married his cousin in a love marriage. Instead of coming back to Pakistan, he decided to settle there. However, Warsi, who is originally from Karachi, didn’t have proper documentation. He lived in India for four years with his wife and two children, until in 2007, someone reported him to the police. He was arrested for having fake papers and later sent to jail for espionage. The Indian authorities have said they will release him and hand him over to the Pakistani authorities on December 26. The Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi has confirmed receiving such information. Moreover, his jail time ended in January this year, however he was not released as he could not clear his outstanding fine.                                          In a released video, he said that his wife and children have been residing in India and he would seek assistance from Pakistani authorities for their immigration to his homeland. Pakistan released Ansari on December 17 after the completion of his sentence. According to the Foreign Office, he was a spy who had entered Pakistan illegally. Earlier, Pakistan has released a Mumbai resident Hamid Nihal Ansari after he served six years in Mardan jail over charges of spying for Indian intelligence agency.