Pakistan hands over Nagpur woman who crossed LoC 10 days ago

NAGPUR: Ten days after she crossed the Line of Control (LoC) on May 14 from Hundermaan village at Kargil in Ladakh, Pakistan authorities handed over Sunita, a 43-year-old woman from Nagpur, to Amritsar police at the Attari border on Saturday.Sunita had left her 14-year-old son behind in a local hotel in Kargil before crossing the LoC. Her disappearance had raised concerns about border security amid heightened tensions after the India-Pakistan conflict.Sources said that Sunita had been communicating with two individuals in Pakistan, identified as Zulfikar and another person referred to as a pastor in Pakistan via social media for months. Whether her crossing was an attempt to meet these contacts, or she got lost in the rugged terrain of Hundermaan is yet to be ascertained.Zonal DCP Niketan Kadam said that a team of Nagpur police is en route Amritsar to take custody of Sunita, pointing out that further legal action could be initiated. Kargil SSP Shree Ram, however, is awaiting official confirmation from Amritsar authorities, underscoring the case's jurisdictional complexities.Amritsar police (Rural) have registered an offence against Sunita, while Nagpur's Kapil Nagar police station are likely to file additional charges to the missing person case they had registered earlier.This was Sunita's third attempt to cross into Pakistan, with two foiled bids in April at the Attari border, where she was intercepted by the Border Security Force (BSF) and handed over to Amritsar police. The earlier attempts had raised red flags about Sunita's intentions. On May 4, Sunita left her north Nagpur residence, compelling her son, a Class 8 student, to accompany her. Sunita told her family she needed to appear in an Amritsar court on May 5, but instead she travelled to Kargil, arriving on May 9.After checking into a local hotel, Sunita crossed the LoC from Hundermaan, leaving her son behind, setting off alarm bells among local authorities. Kargil police registered a missing person report and rescued her son, placing him in the care of the local Child Welfare Committee (CWC). CWC chairperson Niyaz Ali confirmed the boy remains in their custody, awaiting govt approval to return to Nagpur. Sunita's case appears similar to past incidents, like in 2019 when a Jammu teenager was repatriated after accidentally crossing into Pakistan.