In anticipation of a thorough investigation, an inspector and a jawan of the SSB have been suspended for apparent laxity in inspecting the bus in which Seema Haider entered India.
An inspector and a jawan from the 43rd Battalion of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) have recently been suspended by the authorities due to alleged incompetence in the inspection of the bus used by Pakistani national Seema Haider to enter India at the India-Nepal border. The claimed error allegedly allowed Haider and her four children to enter India and travel to Greater Noida, which is close to Delhi.
The incident took place on May 13 in the border district of Siddharth Nagar in Uttar Pradesh. Inspector Sujit Kumar Verma and Head constable Chandra Kamal Kalita were responsible for checking the passenger vehicle as it crossed over to India from Nepal. Following reports of Haider’s arrest in Greater Noida, the SSB initiated a preliminary investigation, leading to the suspension of the two officials pending a full inquiry. The full court of inquiry will investigate all aspects of the incident and examine the roles of other personnel on duty that day.
The SSB, a paramilitary force under the Union home ministry, is tasked with guarding the open 1,751-km-long Indo-Nepal international border on the country’s eastern flank. However, due to the nature of the open border, it gets challenging to check and verify the credentials of each individual crossing over to India from Nepal, say officials.
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Haider, a 30-year-old from Pakistan’s Sindh province, claimed that she entered India to live with her 22-year-old Indian lover Sachin Meena in the Rabupura area of Greater Noida. While Haider was arrested for illegally entering India, Meena was jailed for giving shelter to illegal immigrants. The duo, who met on the virtual gaming platform PUBG in 2019, was, however, granted bail by a local court on July 7. They are now residing together with Haider’s four children in Rabupura.
Although Haider has expressed her desire to live with Meena and claims to have converted to Hinduism, the situation has raised concerns over the border security and the need for more robust checks on those crossing the Indo-Nepal border.
