Police get 15-day custody of Pakistanis; IB, RAW grill them

Three Pakistanis caught staying illegally in Bengaluru along with an Indian citizen were remanded in 15-day police custody by the 44th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court on Friday.

The four were then taken to the special investigation block on the premises of the forensic science laboratory in Madiwala, south Bengaluru. Officials of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Internal Security Division (ISD) interrogated the four separately as well as collectively throughout the day.

The investigation so far shows that the Pakistanis were only looking to settle in India since their respective parents were against their marriage. The investigating agencies, however, will continue to interrogate them to ascertain whether they are associated with any banned outfit or not, a source said.

Sameera Abdul Rehman, her Indian husband Mohammad Shihab, a native of Kerala, Kiran Ghulam Ali and her husband Kashif Shamsuddin, both Sameera’s cousins, were arrested from a two-bedroom house in Kumaraswamy Layout on Wednesday night for staying without any travel documents.

The trio’s Pakistani citizenship was confirmed when police seized their passports. The four have been living in Bengaluru for the past nine months. They had managed to make Aadhaar cards for themselves under false identities, according to police.