JAMMU; To give a fresh impetus to bilateral relations, India is releasing 15 Pakistani nationals — including militants and people held for crossing the border — who have completed their jail terms.
Though officials refused to divulge details, Indian Express newspaper quoted sources as saying that 11 of these Pakistani nationals had been released from the high-security Kot Bhalwal jail in Jammu, another from the Jammu district jail and one from Dangri Jail in Rajouri. The remaining two were lodged in Varanasi jail, they said.
To keep them in custody until their deportation to Pakistan, the state government had detained them under the Public Safety Act. All of them will be handed over to Pakistani officials at Wagah in Punjab. The recent release comes days after the release of Gopal Dass, who spent 27 years in a Pakistani jail on spying charges. In a similar gesture, Pakistan is also expected to release Indian nationals.
