New Delhi: In a big victory for India, a criminal court in Thailand has ruled that a key associate of underworld don Chhota Shakeel, Sayyed Muzakkir Muddassar Hussain alias Mohammad Saleem alias Munna Jhingra is an Indian citizen and will be repatriated to India.
India and Pakistan have been embroiled in a dispute over the citizenship of Jhingra, who has been in a Bangkok prison since September 2000. The case has been under trial since April 2017.
Munna Jhingra was to be initially deported to Pakistan after the completion of his sentence under a prisoner transfer treaty. However, India filed a strong extradition claim and the matter went to court.
During the course of the case, he received amnesty under Thai laws and was to be released in December 2016. However, since matter was sub-judice, he was not extradited.
The court has now upheld the fingerprint evidence submitted by India, which proved beyond reasonable doubt that Jhingra is an Indian national. The Thai court also pulled up the lawyer appearing for Pakistan for submitting “concocted” evidence.
After verdict was read out, Jhingra reportedly became violent and verbally abused the judge. A Pakistani embassy officer present at the hearing allegedly displayed similar behaviour.
Pakistan now has 30 days to file an appeal, failing which Thailand has to repatriate the prisoner to India within 90 days.
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