Indian prisoner returns from Pakistan after 27 years

Amritsar: After languishing in a Pakistani jail for 27 years, Indian prisoner Gopal Dass returned here through the Wagah border this afternoon. Gopal Dass, 50, who belongs to Gurdaspur district of Punjab, was arrested when he inadvertently entered into Pakistani territory in 1984 from Jammu and Kashmir where he had gone to meet a relative. He was charged with spying and was lodged in Lahore’s Central jail ever since. Gopal Dass was received by his family members at Attari as he crossed the Radcliffe line on the border after being released by Pakistani authorities. Gopal, who was scheduled to be released at the end of this year, was set free earlier at the behest of President Asif Ali Zardari on humanitarian grounds. Mr Zardari had made this announcement on March 27 ahead of Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s one-day visit to Mohali to watch India-Pakistan World Cup semifinal on March 30 at the invitation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.