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Bombay police play nanny to cyber couple

Kanchana Suggu in Bombay

The next time you rush in to make friends in Internet chatrooms, heed the story of Abab Ahmedi, who left Lahore to pursue his lady love from Bombay.

An affluent stockbroker from Lahore, 32-year-old Ahmedi was arrested and deported by the Bombay police after he overstayed his visa to marry a local girl from Malabar Hill.

Apparently, Ahmedi met the girl in a cyber chatroom and over a period of months the two fell in love. Soon he packed his bags and came to Bombay to meet the girl whose identity the city police is keeping a closely guarded secret.

He landed in Bombay on December 2, 1999, on a 30-day business visa.

After meeting the girl, he realised that her parents were a stumbling block to their marriage plans. However, since he had permission to travel to Delhi, the two left for the capital, where they got married on December 14.

But trouble began when the couple decided to go to Shimla for their honeymoon -Ahmedi did not have permission to go there.

Thus, when Ahmedi reached Bombay on December 18, he found the Bombay police waiting to arrest him for travelling to Shimla without permission.

While officials from Special Branch 1 were unwilling to disclose details about how they got to know that Ahmedi had travelled illegally to Shimla, all they were willing to state was he had violated visa rules.

"We cannot disclose our sources as it may endanger their lives and at the same time it is not in the interests of the nation to disclose their names," said a senior police official on condition of anonymity to rediff.com.

The police was also unwilling to reveal the girl's identity, apart from stating she was from Malabar Hill, and that she was in constant touch with Ahmedi via e-mail and chat before they decided to tie the knot.

Ahmedi subsequently was sentenced to one month's rigorous imprisonment, after which he was deported to Pakistan.

"Since Ahmedi was arrested before he could register his marriage, it is considered illegal," said the police officer. "We are unwilling to comment about the marriage at all, our only concern was Ahmedi's illegal stay in Shimla and we arrested him only on those grounds."

According to the police, the girl's parents did not lodge any complaint about Ahmedi.

Police officials said in 1999 alone, there were 32 cases of Pakistani nationals who came to India on an invalid visa. Normally, the offenders are deported to Pakistan without prosecution, but a senior official said in Ahmedi's case they were keen on punishing Ahmedi since it involved a girl.

In the past, he said, there have been cases of Pakistanis coming to India, marrying young girls and abandoning them after taking the triple talaq route. "So many girls come crying to us everyday," said another police officer on condition of anonymity.

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