Central, state intelligence agencies continue questioning to Pakistani woman

The Central and state intelligence agencies and security officials are continuing the questioning of a 50-year-old Pakistani woman, arrested from Sabroom Railway station of Saturday night under South Tripura district.

Police sources said that t several central intelligence officials, along with senior Tripura police officers, are continuing their questioning of the woman, who is a resident of Pakistan’s Sheikhupura district.

“The woman was produced before a local court on Monday and the court sent her three days police remand for interrogation. Joint interrogation by different central intelligence agencies will continue until full details about the woman and her intentions are revealed, said police.

Police sources added that the woman was arrested by the Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel from Sabroom Railway Station on Saturday night after she arrived there by the Kanchanjungha Express.

According to the official, the arrested woman speaks in Hindi and initially claimed that she stays in Purani Basti in Delhi and on being asked, she said that her name is Saheena Parveen. However, she could not produce any valid identity document in favour of her statement.

The official said that several Pakistani contact numbers (40) were found with her, concealed in sheets of paper tied around her waist.

During questioning, the woman initially claimed that she was a Pakistani national from the Punjab province, and stated that three years ago she entered Bangladesh and subsequently crossed into India through West Bengal with the help of an agent.

She told the officials that from West Bengal, she moved to Delhi, where she worked as a maid-servant.

The woman further claimed that she was attempting to return to Pakistan via Bangladesh and, following the instructions of an agent, arrived in Sabroom via the Kanchanjungha Express from Siliguri (West Bengal).

“After prolonged interrogation, the woman admitted that her initial statements were false. She revealed her true identity as Louis Nighat Akhtar Bhano, wife of Mohammad Golaf Faraj, from Village Younganabad, Chak No. 371, District Sheikhupura, Pakistan,” the police official said.

The woman confessed that she had travelled to Nepal 12 years ago with a passport for drug trafficking purposes, and in 2014, she was arrested by Nepal Police with one kg of brown sugar and sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment. She was kept in Kathmandu Jail, and last month, during unrest in Nepal, she escaped from custody. So far, police have collected vital information over escaped prisoners from Nepal jail and it is confirmed she is a Pakistani national.

Last month, she entered India and learnt from her associates and agent that she could return to Pakistan through Bangladesh by crossing the India-Bangladesh border via West Bengal or Tripura, the police official said.

Police also said that after the woman failed to cross into Bangladesh through the West Bengal border, she travelled to Tripura on the advice of an agent and arrived in Sabroom by the Kanchanjungha Express, intending to cross the border.