BENGALURU: The fact that two of the three arrested Pakistani nationals living in Bengaluru without valid documents were women, and that one of them is pregnant, did not give the police enough time to quiz them.
The police could not detain the women at night and had only a few hours in the morning before central agencies began questioning them. The cops, however, spoke to some of the neighbours.
Samira, one of the arrested Pakistani nationals, is pregnant and likely to remain in the country during the trial. However, even if her child is born in India during the time, she/he will not qualify for citizenship given that Samira is an “illegal immigrant”.
Even as the legal process began progressing quickly after the arrest, with intent from both the city police and central agencies, the arrest and the fact that three Pakistanis had been illegally living amid them is something their neighbours are yet to come to terms with.
Residents of 91st Cross, Kumaraswamy Layout, find it hard to believe that their neighbours – occupying a house on the first floor of Skanda Nilaya -are Pakistanis. Some of those TOI spoke with vouched for the Pakistanis’ character and said they had never felt that the arrested had any ill intentions.
Asif, an engineering student living near the building, said the women rarely came out of the house, probably because one of them was pregnant. However, Shihab (the Indian man arrested with the three Pakistanis) would speak with neighbours and his behaviour appeared normal.
The rental agreement says the house belongs to Nageshwari, who lives in Nagarbhavi, and the tenants had been paying Rs 10,500 per month as rent. Although it was owned by Nageshwari, the house was maintained by her relative, Natesh.
According to Natesh, Shihab and Khasif, who worked as salesmen, were to be evicted as they had not paid rent for three months. “They were brought to us by a broker and one of them spoke in Kannada. So we didn’t suspect anything. Shihab said he couldn’t pay the rent as he had not been paid his salary for three months,” Natesh said.
“However, he approached me saying he needed some time, as his wife was pregnant. So we accepted the request on humanitarian grounds. But I had told him that he would be evicted if he didn’t clear the dues by May 30.”
Courtesy Times of India