Tortured by Pakistan army, says Madhya Pradesh youth back home after 3 years of captivity

BHOPAL: A Madhya Pradesh youth, who had strayed into Pakistan and was arrested for spying on its nuclear facility in Eastern Punjab, has been released. Rajo alias Raju Laxman, 24, walked across the Attari-Wagah border on Tuesday and was back home in MP's Khandwa on Wednesday.
Raju says he was tortured for over a month by the Pakistan army after being arrested in Dera Ghazi Khan in 2019. His family says he is mentally unstable and a class 5 fail, who wouldn't recognize a nuclear plant if he saw one.
TOI was the first to report on his plight in August 2019 after which activists in Pakistan took up his cause.
On Tuesday, Raju and another Indian, Gemba Ram, were released at Attari-Wagah border -- almost a month after India called on Pakistan to repatriate 631 Indian fishermen and two civilian prisoners who have completed their jail terms and whose nationality has been confirmed.
While Raju had reached Pakistan on trucks and by foot, Gemba Ram had crossed the border in search of a girl he loved. He too was allegedly tortured for over six months before being shifted from one jail to the other for two and a half years.
"I went to Pakistan for a tour and they arrested me. Pakistan soldiers tortured me for a month, pouring water. They beat me and sent me to jail," Raju told mediapersons on Tuesday. That's all he could say before choking up.
Labelled Indian spy, Raju gets warm welcome on return
Khandwa SP Vivek Singh said that he is not in a condition to speak any more about his ordeal. "We are providing all possible assistance to him" he said. Raju was given a warm welcome by locals in Khandwa. His family members have expressed gratitude to Indian authorities for their efforts to bring him back and the Pakistani authorities for "sending him alive", said a journalist after meeting his family.
Who is Raju?
n He is a school dropout, who was possessed by evil spirits, says Raju's family. They would get terrified when he'd start talking gibberish. He also convulses. Raju was married twice, but wives left him because of his illness with "weird" symptoms. "We took him to many exorcists for six years but in vain," Raju's younger brother Dilip said, adding that he had left home after lunch in 2019 and was not seen after that. The family filed a missing person's report since he had run away from home on several occasions. He ended up 2,000km away in Pakistan. His family was shocked when they learnt of it.
His arrest
n Raju seems to have been arrested on July 29, 2019. While announcing this, Pakistan promptly labelled him a spy and identified him as "Rajo alias Raju Laxman of Nimarkhedi, Idor city, India". As proof that he is Indian, Pakistani officials circulated a picture of 'Made In India' tag of his underwear. A message circulated by Pakistan agencies named his mother as Basanta Bai and sister Mamta. A cigarette lighter, 20gm tobacco, Rs 15 in coins, Rs 1,100 cash, two blades and newspaper cutting were recovered, it said.
He was interrogated at an undisclosed location in Rakhi Gaj area. MP Police traced his family to Indhawadi Village, 25km from Punasa in Khandwa district of Indore division, about 190km from Bhopal.
His story is similar to Budhram Marko of Dindori and Jitendra Arjunwar of Seoni. Another missing person, presumed to be dead by his family in Rewa district, was found in a jail in Pakistan.
India's call on Islamabad
n In January this year, India had urged Islamabad to provide immediate consular access to 30 fishermen and 22 civilian prisoners who have been in Pakistan's custody and believed to be Indian. This request was in context of the exchange of lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen by both countries on January 1 and July 1 every year under a 2008 pact.
Release call on social media
n Bhopal-based social activist Sayed Abid Hussain, who is on mission to bring back Indians stuck in Pakistan, appealed to Pakistan's new PM Shehbaz Sharif to release Raju. Hussain appealed to Pak PM in a series of tweets and also approached Pakistan's leading rights activist Ansar Burney to help bring Raju home. Burney promised help. Raju's name appeared on July 2020 list of Pakistan's foreign affairs ministry for consular access.TNN