india

Updated: Nov 19, 2019 22:24 IST

A 30-year-old software engineer from Hyderabad, along with another youth from Madhya Pradesh, was arrested by the Pakistan police for trespassing into their country as per the local media reports on Monday. The engineer had been missing for more than two years.

The two men Myadam Prashanth and Darilal were arrested by the Pakistan police at Cholistan in Bahawalpur state on Monday. The police suspected that both Indians had entered Pakistan by crossing the border from Rajasthan without proper documentation. A case has been registered against them.

Prashanth’s father M Babu Rao, a private employee from Visakhapatnam but settled at Kukatpally in Hyderabad, told reporters in the city that his son left home in April 2017.

He said his son got his engineering degree from a college in Visakhapatnam in 2010. Soon after, he got a job in Bengaluru.

“Prashanth fell in love with a woman colleague while working in Bangalore between 2010 and 2013. Later, we came to know that she moved to Switzerland. He moved to Hyderabad and joined a company at Madhapur. On April 29, 2017, he went to his office as usual but did not return home,” Babu Rao said.

The very same day, Babu Rao lodged a complaint with the Madhapur police.

On Monday, Prashanth’s parents received a video from him saying that he was safe but in Pakistan and was expected to be released shortly. It is not exactly known when and how he strayed into Pakistan.

In the video which was apparently shot from a mobile phone camera, a confident and composed Prashanth told his parents in his mother tongue Telugu that he had been proved innocent. He was detained and brought to court from where he would be sent to jail for a month before being released after completion of all formalities.

He said in the video: “Mummy and daddy, how are you? Now they brought me to court from police station after it was declared that there was no problem. They will send me to jail from court. Then, they will contact the Indian Embassy. Then, I can contact you. India will initiate the bail process. India and Pakistan will complete the formalities. I may be released in a month,” he said.

Babu Rao was happy to see his son after a gap of more than two years, but was also worried that he was in the custody of Pakistan police.

He said his son was a quiet person and was never involved in any criminal activities. “There is nothing suspect about him, but I feel he might have strayed into Pakistan in a disturbed state,” he said.

Babu Rao and his relatives are leaving for Delhi to meet the officials in the external affairs ministry to seek their help in getting Prasanth released at the earliest.

Cyberabad police commissioner V C Sajjannar said the Madhapur police had registered only a missing case about Prashanth and there was no truth in the reports doing rounds in a section of social media that he could be an Indian spy arrested in Pakistan.

“Any such rumour mongering will be dealt with strongly. We are investigating into the case and we hope to find out more details about Prashanth,” Sajjannar said.