Srinagar:The Jammu and Kashmir Police have detained Pakistani nationals across J&K who defied a deportation order explicitly instructing them to leave India before the given deadline– April 27. Most of the detainees are women who had crossed over from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), lived in the Valley for several years, and have children born here, sources said.
The move comes in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 civilian lives and left several others injured.
As per the sources, all the detained individuals had earlier been served notices to leave India by the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), CID Special Branch (SB) Kashmir, who also holds the charge of Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO) in Kashmir, they said.
An official said that the action is being carried out in compliance with an order issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs (Foreigners-I Division) vide Order No. 25022/28/2025-F dated April 25, 2025.
The order had directed that all foreign nationals (Pakistani) staying illegally in India must leave the country positively by or before April 27, 2025, he said.
Despite the notices and the expiry of the deadline, many Pakistani nationals continued to stay in Kashmir. Acting on the lapse, Jammu and Kashmir Police launched a coordinated operation to detain all those who failed to comply with the government order.
Sources said that the detained Pakistani nationals will be facilitated to reach the Wagah border where they will be handed over to Pakistani authorities after completing necessary formalities.
The move has triggered anxiety among the families involved, especially as many of the women have been living in Kashmir for years with established family ties.
So far, there has been no official public statement regarding the number of detentions, but sources confirmed that preparations are underway and being handled at senior administrative levels.
Any Pakistani, who fails to leave India as per the deadlines set by the Union government, will be arrested, prosecuted and may face a jail term of up to three years or a fine of a maximum Rs 3 lakh or both, Govt had said.
Meanwhile, Pakistani wives of former Kashmiri militants—rehabilitated under the 2010 policy—have expressed deep anguish over India’s latest visa restrictions, saying they would rather die than be deported. These women, who arrived in Kashmir with their husbands after the latter gave up militancy and joined the mainstream under then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s rehabilitation policy, said the government might as well send them back in body bags than force them to return alive to Pakistan.