Pakistani Woman Crosses Over To Punjab Without Passport, Arrested

JALANDHAR: In a major security lapse, a Pakistani woman managed to cross the Attari border without a passport and other travel documents and travelled till Jalandhar in Punjab before being arrested last evening.

27-year-old Chanda, a resident of Karachi, boarded the Samjhauta Express from Lahore and arrived in Attari on Thursday. She was finally arrested in Jalandhar by the Government Railway Police after a ticket checker found that she was travelling without a ticket and other relevant documents.During questioning, the woman allegedly gave conflicting versions on why she was travelling without her passport and other travel papers. After initial questioning by the railway police and local intelligence officials, the woman has been sent to the immigration office in Amritsar for further interrogation.

The incident comes amid heightened alert in Punjab following a terror attack in Gurdaspur on Monday in which seven people – four policemen and three civilians – were killed. The incident took place less than 18 kilometres from Punjab’s border with Pakistan, which has condemned the attack.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in Parliament yesterday that the three terrorists killed in the attack had come from Pakistan.