Man who claims to hail from POK gets pre-arrest bail

A local court today granted pre-arrest bail to a man, who claims to hail from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), after he was booked by police for allegedly escaping from their cusotody.
Siraj Khan, booked under the Foreigners Act, filed an anticipatory bail plea in the sessions court early this week after police registered a case against him for allegedly escaping from custody.
"Siraj Khan has been granted anticipatory bail on a bond of Rs 10,000," said his lawyer Yusuf Khan.
The bail plea was heard by sessions court Judge U B Shukla who granted relief to the 29-year-old.
He had told the sessions court that an inquiry has been instituted against a Senior Inspector of RAK Police Station in Central Mumbai for releasing him (apparently without official orders) from custody and there was no reason for him to escape from preventive detention.

Siraj had also told the court that the original offence against him was not maintainable as the Union Government considers POK as a part of India.

Siraj had been convicted by a magistrate's court for illegally entering India and his appeal against the verdict is pending before the sessions court. In the meantime, he was under detention at RAK Police Station.
The Bombay High Court stayed his deportation earlier this year.
According to Siraj, he landed in Amritsar in 1995 as a 10-year-old when he took a wrong train while fleeing from his home. He later arrived in Mumbai where he married an Indian woman with whom he has three children.