Odisha man spent 20 years in Pakistani jail released

Man mistaken for spy arrested by Pakistan authorities

Birju Kulu, a forty five year old tribal man who is a resident of Jangatoli village of Sundargarh District had wandered off the Pakistani border two decades ago will return to his home after spending 20 years in Jail in Lahore. The Pakistani authorities suspected him a spy agent working for Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the foreign intelligence agency of India.

According to the reports, Birju was a mentally unstable person since his childhood. He had gone missing from his home 24 years ago under mysterious circumstances and started working in a hotel in Ranchi. A few days later, hotel owner informed that he had gone missing. The family searched for him but failed to trace him. However, family didn’t pursue this matter and didn’t lodge any missing report.

“No one knows for sure how he reached Pakistan. But he seems to have somehow reached Amritsar and from there wandered off the border. He caught by Pakistan authorities and treated as a prisoner of war. The family did not have any inkling of him till he was handed over to Indian authorities at the border on October 26 as per the usual practice of handing over of such prisoners who are not involved in any criminal activities,” said Sagarika Nath, superintendent of Sundargarh’s police.

She further stated that she “received a call from the Ministry of external affairs last week about Kulu’s release from a jail in Lahore and was asked to get his family address checked as he had given his Sundargarh address to Pakistani authorities. The Sundargarh police then enquired about Kulu and informed the family that he had “inadvertently” crossed into Pakistan and spent 20 years in Lahore jail on suspicion of being a spy.”

Kulu is undergoing a treatment after testing positive for Coronavirus but his sister spoke with him over a video call. “Once he is discharged from the hospital, we would make arrangements to bring him back to his village,” Biswajit Mohapatra, additional district magistrate of Sundargarh, said.