Sentence over, Pakistani teenager still languishing in Ludhiana observation home

Jupinderjit Singh

Chandigarh, March 3

With stars in his eyes, a 17-year-old boy, Ali Movia Banars, from Grambari village in Pakistan crossed over to India from Amritsar sector in August last year, hoping to somehow reach Mumbai and meet actor Shah Rukh Khan. Instead, he is languishing in an observation home in Ludhiana.

Caught by the police and sentenced by an Amritsar court to spend two months at the juvenile home under the Indian Passport Act and Foreigners Act, the boy is awaiting release even though his sentence got over on November 23 last year.

The authorities concerned cannot release him as there is no one to hand him over to. As his parents are in Pakistan, only the High Commission officials of the country in India can claim him. They, however, are yet to respond.

The case came to light with Simranjit Kaur, member of Punjab State Gender Budgetary Committee, Women and Child Development Department, wrote to the Punjab Police and the Ministry of External Affairs for taking up the matter with the Pakistan High Commission.

Simranjit told The Tribune that the plight of the boy was unbearable. “During my visit to the observation home, I learnt about his case and hence wrote to the authorities concerned. Ali told me he was a huge fan of Shah Rukh Khan had come to meet him. According to the Punjab Police, his sentence is already over. Ali’s village Grambari is near Kuthiala in Abottabad district,” Simran said.

He also revealed that while leaving his house, he told his mother that he was going out to meet Shah Rukh Khan and that his mother must have taken it as a joke,” Simran said. Ali has two elder sisters. His father Mohammad Banars is a truck driver in the UAE.