Sunil Khan, a 16-year-old Pakistani boy lodged in the juvenile home here, has urged the Central Government to release him, pleading that he had mistakenly strayed into Indian territory.

Khan made the plea before Jarnail Singh Gill and Harjit Singh Gill, both members of the district juvenile justice board, and former education minister Avtar Singh Brar, who were in the juvenile home on Monday to distribute sweets and fruits among the inmates on the occasion of Guru Nanak Dev’s birth anniversary.

A resident of Bahawalpur in Pakistan, Khan was taken into custody by the Border Security Force in May last year for illegally entering Indian territory in Hussainiwala area of Ferozepur district. After interrogation, the BSF handed him over to the Ferozepur police, who registered a case against him under Sections 3 and 5 of the Passport Act and various sections of the Indian Penal Code. He was sent to the juvenile home following the orders of a local court.

Khan spoke to his family over phone last year after the intervention of the juvenile board. It was through this call that Khan’s parents came to know that their son was lodged in an Indian jail.

He claimed the fencing along the border was damaged, due to which he did not realise that he had crossed over to India. “I am innocent and there was no motive behind my act,” he told the juvenile board members.

Another Pakistani boy, Nasir Sultan, was repatriated in November last year after being lodged in a juvenile home for three months. He had reportedly crossed over to meet actor Shahrukh Khan. Following media reports, the Union government took a lenient view of the case and recommended to the Punjab government to drop the case against him.

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