Darjeeling (West Bengal): A 62-year-old Pakistani woman and her minor son were arrested for illegally entering India at the Indo-Nepal international border at Panitanki in Kharibari block adjacent to Siliguri in West Bengal, officials said on Thursday. The two did not have valid visa and other documents and had entered India to meet the woman's sister who lives in South 24 Parganas district.
According to police, the 41st battalion of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) held Shaista Hanif and her 11-year-old son Arian Mohammad Hanif last night. They were handed over to Kharibari police station of Darjeeling district police following an interrogation. The duo would be produced before the Siliguri Sub-Divisional Court on Thursday.
It has been learnt that the mother-son crossed the bridge of the Asian highway built on the Mechi River from Kakarvita in Nepal on Wednesday morning and reached Panitanki near the Indo-Nepal border. The moment they arrived here they were intercepted by SSB jawans.
While searching them, Pakistani passports and other documents were recovered from them. It was found that they were residents of Sarafa Bazar in Gahanmar Street in Pakistan's Karachi. Their passports were issued by the Pakistan government on May 29 last year. The woman's passport is valid till 2032 and the boy's till May 2027.
