Two-year-old among three ‘Pakistani nationals’ detained for staying illegally in Rajkot: Police

Rizwana had brought Zeeshan to India when he was five-year-old, said sources.

While Rizwana and her son Zeeshan are accused of overstaying their visa for 26 years, the child has been “detained because he was born to a Pakistani father and Indian mother,” said a police official familiar with the matter.

According to the Rajkot Rural Police sources, ASI Jayvirsinh Rana and Head Constable Anil Gujarati of the Local Crime Branch (LCB) were out patrolling when they received information that “Rizwana, wife of Munaf Ibrahim Tataria, is a Pakistani national who had overstayed her visa”. Based on the tip-off, Lodhika police station in-charge, Police Inspector, IM Sarvaiya conducted an investigation into the matter. During the probe, he found that “Rizwana was originally a resident of Lyari town of Karachi in Pakistan. She was born in 1975 in Lyari and had married Munaf Ibrahim Tataria in 1992 when he had gone to Pakistan on a work permit. They had a son named Zeeshan, while Munaf was in Pakistan”.

While Tataria returned to India in 1994, Rizwana and Zeeshan came to India on July 30, 1999, following which they never went back, said the police.

Notably, according to this timeline, “Rizwana has lived more than half her life in India while Zeeshan was brought up in India since before he was 5-year-old,” said a police official familiar with the matter.

“Despite being a Pakistani national, Zeeshan allegedly illegally married an Indian woman in 2021 and their son was born on September 10, 2022,” the police official added.

The Rajkot Rural Police have detained the trio.

“We are awaiting further orders from top officials regarding their deportation,” said Police Inspector IM Sarvaiya.

Meanwhile, Munaf Tataria’s nephew, who resides in Lodhika village, told The Indian Express: “The police detained all three family members on Friday evening and they have been sitting there at the police station since then. The police have allowed Zeeshan’s wife to be with her child there.”

Inspector Sarvaiya, however, clarified that the detained persons were not in the lockup but were seated in the police station. The nephew also confirmed that the police had asked them not to worry, but no information regarding the deportation process has been shared with the family yet. Tataria owns a grocery shop in the small town while Zeeshan is engaged in the computer hardware business, said sources.