PHOTO: FILE

GUJRANWALA: An Indian national with a fake Pakistani identity card was arrested in an operation led by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Saturday.



Deputy Director FIA Amir Nawaz said that the Indian national, Pancham Tiwari, hails from Banaras and is a businessman in India.



According to sources, Tiwari had been living in Pakistan for the past decade. Tiwari has three children and is married to a Pakistani woman



FIA found a fake identity card among Tiwari's belongings, to which he claimed that he had embraced Islam and had no intention of returning back to India.



Tiwari defended himself by telling the FIA that he conducted business with Kamran, a Pakistani citizen, in 2009. Influenced by Kamran, he abandoned Hinduism and converted to Islam.



He said Kamran offered him a place to stay and his sister's hand in marriage because he could not return to India as a Muslim.



He also told the FIA that he made his way to Karachi via the sea route of human smuggling. Upon reaching Karachi, Tiwari met Kamran's uncle who renamed him Bilal and made a fake identity card under his new name.



Tiwari says that being a Muslim, he wants to live in Pakistan.



The FIA has launched an investigation against Tiwari. Six people, including Kamran and his family, have been named in assisting the accused.



Earlier this year in March, news of a mentally challenged man crossing into the Indian territory by mistake broke out.



The differently-abled Pakistani citizen had been declared a spy by the Border Security Forces (BSF).



Earlier on February 12, an Indian teenage boy was repatriated to his homeland as a goodwill gesture after he mistakenly crossed into Pakistani territory.



After completion of all legal requirements and verification of the citizen’s identity, he was handed over to BSF personnel via Wagah Border. The teenager belonged to Assam state.