- Amarjit Singh had gone to Pakistan with about 1,700 pilgrims for Baisakhi celebrations April 12
- His absence was noticed only after 10 days
- He was found at his Facebook friend's house in Sheikhupura
- He was questioned by the intelligence agencies
- Amarjit will be sent back to India Tuesday, April 24
A Sikh pilgrim, who traveled to Pakistan from India as part of the Baisakh jatha and had gone missing in the neighboring country, has now reportedly been found. Amarjit Singh was found at his Facebook friend's house in Sheikhupura, which is about 50 kilometers from Lahore.
The 24-year-old from Amritsar had gone to Pakistan with about 1,700 pilgrims for Baisakhi celebrations April 12, and had gone missing. Strangely his absence was noticed only 10 days later.
Singh will now be handed over to Indian authorities and sent back home through the Attari-Wagah border Tuesday, April 24.
"Amarjit has been found and will be sent back to India on Tuesday. He had arrived at Nankana Sahib and had left the group to meet his Facebook friend - Amir Razzak - in Sheikhupura," Hindustan Times quoted Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) spokesperson Amir Hashmi as saying.
"Razzak's family had contacted the board and told us about his (Amarjit's) stay at his residence. Today, both Amarjit and Razzak visited the ETPB office in Lahore."
After he was found, Singh was questioned by the Pakistani intelligence agencies on the matter for "several hours" and he clearly said that he hadn't gone missing. Singh explained that he had a visa for a month and thought would go meet his friend. He then planned to return home on the expiration of the visa.
"After it was established that he had not deliberately disappeared and had no links with the Indian intelligence agency, Amarjit was handed over to the ETPB to be deported to India," an unnamed source told the Press Trust of India.
The incident comes just days after a Sikh widow from Punjab, who had also traveled to Pakistan on pilgrimage, went missing. However, it was later found out that she hadn't disappeared and had instead converted to Islam and married a Muslim man.
The 32-year-old, identified as Kiran Bala from Hoshiarpur, a city in the north Indian state of Punjab, now goes by the name Amina Bibi.
Bala has also requested a visa extension and reportedly fears that if she returns to India her life may be in danger. However, the widow's in-laws back home fear that she might not have married the man on her own will and may have been trapped by the ISI.
