By IANS,
New Delhi : A total of 360 Pakistani prisoners and 18 Pakistani fishermen are now lodged in various Indian jails, Minister of State for Home M. Ramachandran said Tuesday.
These include 65 Pakistanis in Delhi’s Tihar Jail who are members of the Mehdi Foundation International and who are to be sent to a third country by UNHCR, the minister told the Lok Sabha.
He said that based on a report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Indian government had decided to accept them as refugees.
“UNHCR has initiated action to locate a third country where these Pakistani nationals could be sent,” he said.
The maximum number of Pakistani prisoners are in Jammu and Kashmir (81), followed by the National Capital Region of Delhi (80), Punjab (62), Rajasthan (44), Gujarat (43) and Uttar Pradesh (25).
Other states holding Pakistani prisoners are West Bengal (6), Maharashtra (5), Haryana (3), Madhya Pradesh (3), Andhra Pradesh (3), Assam (2), Karnataka (2) and Chandigarh (1).
Among the Pakistani fishernmen, 15 were locked up in Lakshadweep and three in Gujarat.