Pakistani woman does a Bajrangi Bhaijan, arrested

In a case of life imitating art, a young Pakistani woman crossed the border into India without valid travel documents - a la Salman Khan in Bollywood blockbuster 'Bajrangi Bhaijan', albeit in the reverse direction - and landed in police custody on Friday.

Claiming to be from Karachi city in Pakistan, Chanda Khan alias Fauzia, 27, told police officials she had come to India to meet Bollywood heartthrob Salman Khan.

Chand - who arrived in India without a passport, visa or ticket - was off-loaded from the Samjhauta Express link train at Jalandhar, about 160 km from here, late Thursday night.

She gave different statements to police regarding her travel across the border even as railway police in Punjab arrested her on Friday.

The woman was booked under the Foreigners Act and Passport Act for illegally entering India.

After initial questioning, she was taken back to Amritsar for further questioning by Government Railway Police (GRP) officials on Friday.

GRP officials are baffled how the young woman could breach tight security and immigration channels at Wagah in Pakistan and at Attari in India without detection.

She was taken off the link train at Jalandhar railway station after Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel found her travelling without documents. The train was stopped at Jalandhar after special permission.

The incident comes in the wake of a "high alert" in Punjab and other states after the July 27 terror attack in Dinanagar town of Gurdaspur district in Punjab by Pakistani terrorists which left seven people dead, including an SP-rank officer, three home guards and three civilians.

The Samjhauta Express peace train between India and Pakistan ferries people from Lahore till Attari, 30 km from Amritsar. A link train then takes the passengers from Attari to Delhi.

The arrested woman told GRP officials that her passport and visa were lying with her uncle though authorities could not find the man among those travelling on the train.

She even told GRP officials that she had come to India to offer prayers at the famous Sufi shrine in Ajmer.

GRP officer B.S. Randhawa said the woman was changing her statements frequently and investigations into her illegal entry into India were on.