Maharashtra man held in Gujarat for bid to sneak into Pakistan on foot

A 21-year-old man from Maharashtra has been apprehended by the Border Security Force (BSF) in Gujarat's Rann of Kutch while he was trying to sneak into Pakistan on foot, officials said on Friday.

Police said that as per the preliminary probe, the man, identified as Zeeshan Siddique, was on his way to meet a woman in Pakistan whom he had befriended on a social media platform.

"Siddique was held by the BSF on Thursday night and later handed over to the local police. He is from Osmanabad town in Maharashtra," Kutch-East Superintendent of Police, Parikshita Rathod, said.

"Police had issued an alert after a motorcycle with Maharashtra registration number was found abandoned near Dholavira village in the Rann of Kutch on Thursday evening. The BSF later nabbed the man when he was found walking towards the border in a bid to enter Pakistan," Rathod added.

According to police sources, Siddique is an engineering student and may have reached Gujarat from Osmanabad on his motorcycle.

After his motorcycle got stuck in the sand, he started walking towards Pakistan in a bid to meet his social media friend living in that country, they said.