Wasil Khan, who languished behind the bars for eight years after being wrongly branded a Pakistani and convicted in a terror attack case, was released today following a high court order.
43-year-old Khan was received by his family members outside the Amritsar jail.
Khan, a resident of east Champaran district of Bihar found his Indian identity a few days back when his family members met Amritsar deputy commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu and produced the voter list of their area in which his name was present and his school certificates to prove his nationality.
Pannu brought the matter to the notice of Punjab and Haryana high court Justice Mehtab Singh Gill during his visit to the Amritsar jail, who immediately ordered his release.
Khan was detained by the police in 2000 near the India-Pakistan border as he was allegedly unable to explain his visit to the border.
He was declared by local authorities a Pakistani who had illegally crossed over to India.
In March 2002, the Punjab police charged him with being involved in a bomb blast in Sirhind town near Ludhiana. He was convicted and sentenced to eight years in jail.
Khan served the sentence and no other case was pending against him but had to stay in jail as efforts for his repatriation to Pakistan were on.
After being released from the jail, Khan thanked the media which recently highlighted his plight.
Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) had last week taken notice of Khan's plight and sought a report in this regard.
