Maharashtra boy’s bid to meet girl in Pakistan ends in Gujarat

RAJKOT/AURANGABAD: In an incident that could be stuff for a Bollywood potboiler, love almost transcended boundaries, literally, when a 20-year-old mechanical engineering student from Osmanabad in Maharashtra attempted to sneak into Pakistan on foot to meet a young Pakistani woman he had befriended on social media but fell short of making it across the border at Gujarat.
The youth’s quest was cut short on Thursday when Border Security Force personnel found him lying unconscious and dehydrated just 1.5 km short of the India-Pakistan border near Dholavira in Kutch.
Cops at the site where boy was found
Maha man rode 1,200km on his bike to reach Dholavira
Police also found his PAN card, Aadhaar card and a bank ATM card. The youth set off on a bicycle from his home in Osmanabad on July 10, 250 km from Aurangabad, but the bicycle broke down he travelled a long distance. Not being able to find a mechanic, he found himself a motorcycle on the highway and headed straight for Kutch in Gujarat.
Using Google Maps, the youth navigated nearly 1,200 km to Dholavira, hoping this route would take him to Karachi. However, he couldn’t negotiate the sandy desert trails and abandoned his motorcycle in Dholavira. He then began walking through the Rann of Kutch towards the border.
A BSF squad from the Khavda checkpost, around 300 km from Karachi, found the youth’s motorcycle lying in the sand on Thursday evening. The BSF then embarked on a six-hour combing operation before tracking down the youth.
The youth had mostly switched off his cellphone during his journey but would restart it to chat with the Pakistani woman and also to check the route on Google Maps. It was on these occasions that the Osmanabad police would track down his last location. His parents had lodged a complaint with the local police that he had gone missing.
During interrogation, the youth told the security forces about his interaction with the woman on two social media platforms.
Superintendent of police, Kutch (east), Parikshita Rathod said: “We received a message from the Osmanabad police that they had traced the youth’s location to Dholavira. He was found 4 km inside the desert on Thursday night. He has been handed over to the Khavda police station. The Maharashtra police will arrive to take his custody.”
Osmanabad superintendent of police Raj Tilak Roushan told TOI, “We were intrigued when the youth, who has a good academic record, went missing from his house. We found out from his social media account that he was in regular contact with the Pakistani woman and that he had left to meet her.”
Osmanabad police sources said that after months of interaction, the youth and the Pakistani woman decided that they would marry.
Police said the youth appeared to have been well-equipped to traverse the desert. Dholavira sarpanch Jilu Sodha said, “He was wearing gum boots and had a number of water bottles with him.”