Pakistani citizen Seema Haider, her Indian partner questioned by UP ATS

Noida: The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday questioned Pakistani citizen Seema Haider, who entered India illegally in May and is now living with her Indian partner Sachin Meena in Greater Noida, officials said.

The interrogation was still underway in the evening with Sachin and his father Netrapal Singh also being questioned, they said.

This comes a day after UP ATS arrested a suspected agent of Pakistan's intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Lucknow on charges of supplying "vital information about defence establishments" to his handlers in the neighbouring country.

Seema's questioning also comes at a time when a little-known right-wing fringe group in Greater Noida has threatened a protest if Haider, who illegally entered India with her four children, is not evicted from the country "within 72 hours".

A senior police officer confirmed to PTI that Seema, Sachin and Netrapal Singh were being interrogated by the ATS on Monday and that the local police were not involved in it.

"They may or may not be arrested after the questioning, depending on the outcome of the interrogation in the sensitive matter that pertains to national security," a UP ATS official told PTI.

Local police are separately investigating the case and are yet to file a chargesheet, the officer said.

Meanwhile, a little-known fringe group issued a threat that if Seema Haider and her four children are not evicted from the country "within 72 hours", they will start a protest.

In a purported video posted on social media that surfaced Monday, a man who identified himself as the national president of the group claimed that “Seema is a spy” and “part of some conspiracy” against the country.

When asked about security arrangements for Haider and Meena, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Greater Noida) Saad Miya Khan told PTI that no additional security has been provided to the couple.

“Police were deployed in large numbers in the village where Sachin and Seema currently live for crowd management after the couple walked out of jail on July 8,” Khan said.

Additional DCP (Greater Noida) Ashok Kumar said there was no law and order issue in the area where the cross-border couple lives. “We are keeping a constant vigil on the situation,” Kumar told PTI.

Seema, 30, had entered India along with her four children in a bus from Nepal in May in order to live with her partner Sachin, 22, who lives in the Rabupura area of Greater Noida in Gautam Buddh Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh. The couple had first got in touch in 2019 over online game PUBG.

On July 4, Seema was arrested by local police for entering India illegally and Sachin was held for sheltering illegal immigrants. However, they were both granted bail by a local court on July 7 and have been living together with her four children in a house in the Rabupura area.

During her interactions with the media, Seema said she does not wish to go back to Pakistan and wants to live with Sachin in India only. She also claimed to have converted to Hinduism.

In Pakistan, Seema's family and neighbours told PTI that they do not want her to return. Meanwhile, a gang of dacoits attacked a Hindu temple and adjoining homes belonging to Hindus with rocket launchers in the Kashmore area of Southern Sindh province on Sunday, a police officer said. There was no loss of life in the attack.

The attack came days after dacoits in the Kashmore and Ghotki riverine areas had threatened violence at Hindu places of worship and its community members in retaliation to Seema moving to India to live with Sachin.

Pakistan's intelligence agencies, meanwhile, have informed the country's government that "love" was the "only" factor that caused the mother of four to sneak into India to live with a Hindu man, a media report said on Monday.