Indian citizen Hamid Nihal Ansari returns home after 6 years in Pakistan jail; Family celebrates; Ansari travelled to Pakistan through Afghanistan to meet the girl he befriended online.

Indian national Hamid Nihal Ansari was today released from a Pakistani jail to be repatriated to India, six years after he was detained by Pakistan and subsequently sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

Ansari, a 33-year-old Mumbai resident, was lodged in the Peshawar Central Jail after being sentenced by the military court on December 15, 2015. His three-year jail term ended on December 15, 2018 but he was not able to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready.

Earlier, the Peshawar High Court gave the federal government a month deadline to complete his repatriation process.

India has expressed relief at Pakistan’s decision to release Hamid Nihal Ansari after six years in jail and urged Islamabad to take action to free other Indian nationals, including fishermen, who have completed their sentences.