The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has dismissed a jawan from service after it was found that he concealed his marriage to a Pakistani national, an act the force termed as a threat to national security.
In an official statement issued on Saturday, the CRPF said, “CT/GD Munir Ahmed of 41 Battalion has been dismissed from service with immediate effect for concealing his marriage to a Pakistani national and knowingly harbouring her beyond the validity of her visa. His actions were found to be in violation of service conduct and detrimental to national security.”
The action comes a day after Ahmed was transferred from Jammu & Kashmir, a highly sensitive region, to Bhopal. According to CRPF officials, Ahmed had applied for permission to marry Minal Khan from Sialkot, Pakistan, in 2023. However, before the CRPF could respond, he went ahead and married her via video conferencing on May 24, 2024, in a cross-border religious ceremony.
The matter gained attention after Minal Khan was deported from Jammu earlier this week due to her visa expiring and heightened security protocols following the Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed 26 lives. India has since tightened its stance on Pakistani nationals in the country.
Though Minal was initially sent to the Attari border for deportation, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court granted her interim relief on April 30, halting the deportation. Her lawyer, Ankush Sharma, told reporters that Minal had applied for a long-term visa and received positive recommendations from officials, but her deportation was triggered before the process concluded.
“She had come to India on a visitor visa and appeared for a long-term visa interview. The recommendations were sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs. But due to the Pahalgam attack, she was asked to leave,” Sharma explained.
Speaking to PTI, Minal Khan expressed grief over the terror attack and appealed to the Indian government: “We condemn the barbaric killings of innocents in the attack. They should be punished severely. We should be allowed to stay with our family.”
