Three Pakistani nationals were detained after they found to be illegally staying, without valid passport or visa documents, in a rented house at Kumaraswamy Layout in the city. Another person, originally from Kerala, believed to have harboured the Pakistani trio — which includes two women — was also arrested by the city police during a raid on Wednesday night.
Sameera (25), Kiran Ghulam Ali (26) and Kashif Shamshuddin (30), all originally from Karachi, were arrested; while the Central Crime Branch sleuths have also arrested Mohammad Sihab from Kerala. “They had been staying illegally in the country for the past nine months and had even got themselves Aadhaar Cards and other documents through false records,” said Praveen Sood, City Police Commissioner, during a press conference on Thursday.
Preliminary questioning of the accused revealed that Mohammad Sihab fell in love with, and later married, Sameera when they were working in Qatar. Facing harassment from their families, the two — accompanied by another Pakistani couple, Kiran and Kashif —made their way to Muscat, and then to Nepal from where they sneaked into India. “We are verifying their story and the exact reason why they settled down in Bengaluru,” said Mr. Sood.
Central Intelligence officials and the Home Ministry have been informed and teams were expected to interrogate the arrested, said the police.
