Bhopal: “Mother, this may be the last letter from me, but please keep writing to me. Eat well, and take good care of yourself. If everything goes well, I will be home soon.”

Sunil Uikey scribbled these words on a piece of paper from inside a prison in Pakistan, for his mother in Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh

Sunil had gone missing from Gujarat two months ago. His family was clueless about his whereabouts, till his uncle Shivlal Inwati received the handwritten letter addressed to his mother from Malir jail, Karachi. He is the second youth from Madhya Pradesh to be jailed in Pakistan after Seoni’s runaway lad Jitendra Arjunwar.
Sunil wanted Shivlal to inform his mother about his incarceration in Pakistan so she would not worry. He requested Shivlal to look after his mother till he returns.

Sunil was among 55 Indian fishermen arrested by Pakistan Marine Security Agency (PMSA) off Jakhau coast on March 29 for allegedly violating its territorial waters in the Arabian Sea. He was on one of 10 boats, PMSA alleges, which were operating near the International Boundary Line (IMBL). Majority of these boats were from Okha and Mangroal ports of Gujarat.

In 2015, Sunil had gone to Gujarat looking for a job. He was on board a boat named Rundra Raj that set sail for a fishing trip on March 14 from Okha port, an intelligence official said.

Other boats seized by PMSA are Macch Raj, Vayu Raj, Anjani Putra-7 and Megh Raj. All boats were operating from Okha port, The Times of India reported.

Sunil’s family approached Balaghat police on Thursday to certify his voter ID and other credentials related to his Indian citizenship for authorities in Pakistan.
“Sunil was carrying a voter ID card with him. He do not have an Aadhar card. Pakistan will not release him unless they get certified documents from the government, please do the needful,” reads a letter from his uncle Shivlal Inwati to Balaghat police. Sunil mentioned in his letter that he has been lodged with 25-30 other youths from UP.

Jitendra Arjunwar, who hails from Seoni district and had dug his way to Pakistan through the barbed wire on the Rajasthan border in search of water, is in the same jail for the last three years. Arjunwar was arrested by the Pakistan Rangers on August 12, 2013. His lawyer Ali Plah had told TOI that Pakistan is treating him with compassion, convinced by his defence on trespass charges and would release him soon.

Arjunwar, who had travelled 35km inside Pakistan unchecked, was arrested just a few kilometres away from the Sindh Cantonment.
They handed him over to Khokhrapar police in Umerkot district of Sindh, where he was charged under the Foreigner’s Act. His family has not heard from him since long.