Islamabad: Indian national Ram Prakash, freed last week after serving a 10-year prison term in Pakistan, is set to be repatriated on Monday following a mix-up that delayed his return home.
Prakash, 51, was freed from Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore on July 1 on the orders of the Interior Ministry after he completed his prison term. Pakistani authorities arrested him a decade ago on charges of spying.
He was taken to the Wagah land border but could not be repatriated, as Pakistani authorities had not officially informed the Indian High Commission here about his release.
As a result, Prakash's travel documents were not prepared.
Following this, Prakash was sent back to Kot Lakhpat jail. Officials in the Indian High Commission told PTI that Pakistani authorities had subsequently informed them about Prakash's release on July 3.
They said his travel documents had been prepared so that he could be sent back via Wagah tomorrow.
Reports have suggested that confusion arose when jail officials handed Prakash over to Pakistani border police to be repatriated to India without ascertaining whether he possessed travel documents.
Prakash, a resident of Tawi district in Jammu and Kashmir, was convicted for alleged espionage in 1998 after being arrested by Pakistani security officials in Sialkot.
A special court then handed him down a 10-year prison term. However, Prakash told Pakistani TV channels at Wagah last week that he was arrested in June 1997 while he was trying to cross over to India after smuggling liquor to Pakistan. He said he was interrogated for a year before being sent to jail in Lahore.
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