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Congress asks what steps is Centre taking to ensure safe return of BSF soldier detained by Pakistan
It has been six days since the constable was detained and his family is ‘anxiously waiting for answers’, said party leader Pawan Khera.
Scroll Staff
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Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters
The Congress on Tuesday asked the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government to explain what steps it was taking to ensure the safe return of a Border Security Force constable who was detained by the Pakistan Rangers six days ago.Constable PK Sahu of the 182nd battalion was detained on the afternoon of April 23 while accompanying Indian farmers beyond the barbed wire fence between the two countries.Farmers are allowed to work on land just ahead of the fence, which remains within Indian territory, under the supervision of BSF personnel during designated hours – from 9 am to 5 pm.“It has been six days since BSF constable Purnam Sahu was detained by Pakistan Rangers,” the Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said on social media.He added: “His family is anxiously awaiting answers. What steps is the government taking to secure his safe return?”Sahu, a resident of Hooghly in West Bengal, was in uniform, carrying his service weapon – an AK-47 rifle – and had moved to rest under the shade of a tree when he was detained.A BSF official said on Thursday that flag meetings were being held with the Rangers to secure Sahu’s release.The Rangers had yet to communicate Sahu’s whereabouts with the BSF, an unidentified government official told The Hindu on Monday.“Meetings are being held with Pakistani Rangers but it appears that the jawan has been taken away from the Rangers post,” said the official. “His current whereabouts are not known.”The incident comes amid diplomatic tensions between the two countries following the Pahalgam terror attack.The terror attack at Baisaran on April 22 left 26 persons dead and 17 injured. The terrorists targeted tourists after asking their names to ascertain their religion, the police said. All but three of those killed were Hindu.In the aftermath of the attack, the Union government on Thursday announced that the visas of Pakistani citizens in India would stand revoked from Sunday and that they had to leave the country before then. India also suspended visa services to Pakistani citizens with immediate effect.At the end of the deadline, 537 Pakistanis had left India through the Attari-Wagah border crossing in Punjab.India also suspended the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 amid diplomatic tensions. New Delhi said that the treaty would remain in abeyance until Pakistan “credibly and irrevocably” stopped its support for cross-border terrorism.
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