Indian Pilgrim From Amritsar Goes Missing in Pakistan During His Visit to Gurdwara Panja Sahib
The man, identified as Amarjit Singh had gone to Pakistan as part of 1,700-member jatha on April 12. Amarjit could not return to India with the rest of the jatha on Saturday and his visa, which was just issued by Pakistan for the 10-day pilgrimage, has expired.
Amritsar, April 22: In a shocking incident, a 24-year-old man from a village near Amritsar went missing from a Gurudwara in Pakistan five days ago. As per reports, the incident took place when a group of Sikh pilgrims had gone for on a pilgrimage to Panja Singh Gurudwara in Pakistan.
The man, identified as Amarjit Singh had gone to Pakistan as part of 1,700-member jatha on April 12. Amarjit could not return to India with the rest of the jatha on Saturday and his visa, which was just issued by Pakistan for the 10-day pilgrimage, has expired.
The news of the man missing surfaced when the nodal agency handling the pilgrimage, Pakistan Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), intimated authorities that one of the "Indian pilgrims" had not collected his passport.
Reports inform that around 1,800 Sikh yatris had been in Pakistan from April 12, under a bilateral agreement facilitating visits to religious shrines. The entire "Jatha" was to return on Saturday. The Pakistan Foreign Ministry is looking into the matter. Meanwhile, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Dr. Faisal confirmed the news and said, "we actively are looking for him".
According to a report by India Today, sources in the Indian government have told that the Indian mission in Pakistan is in touch with the Pakistani authorities. It must be noted that this is the second case of an Indian having stayed back in Pakistan.
The news of the man gone missing comes days after Kiran Bala, a Sikh woman from Punjab's Hoshiarpur district went to Pakistan on the same pilgrimage and refused to return. Bala, who was part of the same pilgrimage group created controversy after revealing that she had converted to Islam and married a Lahore-based Pakistani man.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 22, 2018 09:29 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).