Pak. denies presence of Indian PoWs

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, JULY 23. Pakistan continues to maintain that there are no Indian Prisoners of War (PoWs) in its jails.

Senior officials of the Pakistan Interior Ministry said that on orders from the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, they checked the records of various jails but did not find any Indian prisoners from the 1971 war.

The issue was raised by the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, in the course of his summit meeting with Gen. Musharraf at Agra last week. On his return to Islamabad, Gen. Musharraf had ordered the authorities to check the records.

After a week-long ``combing operation'' in prisons in Pakistan's four provinces, Interior Ministry officials declared today that they had not found any Indian POWs. A top official said that a review of the records of the prisons had also proved futile.

Interior Ministry officials also expressed surprise over reports that 25 Indian civilian prisoners would be released shortly as a goodwill gesture by Gen. Musharraf. ``We have not received any such orders till now.''

India believes that there are at least 51 PoWs in Pakistan jails. According to officials here, 135 Indian civilians were currently imprisoned for various offences.

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Section  : International
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