Repatriated Indian national unable to believe he is back

Mumbai: Indian national Hamid Nihal Ansari (33) who had been languishing in a Pakistani jail since 2012 returned home in Mumbai on Thursday morning and a day later narrated his six-year-long ordeal.

Ansari said, “I can't believe I am in my home; something which I was only hoping and dreaming for six years. I can’t believe my dream has come true.”

About his ordeal, he said, “It was a mixture of good and bad; one which I can’t describe in words.”

Asked about how he was thrashed in jail, Ansari said, “Yes, it may be part of their interrogation process. I was kept isolated without light. In one of the incidents, I was beaten badly and even sustained an injury to my eye.”

There was sadness in Ansari’s voice as he said, “It’s all my family, media and veteran journalist Jatin Desai’s efforts that have brought me back safe and sound. I went there to help my friend who was in distress. They made fake papers and put inside my pockets. The moment I went there to find my friend, the agency people came and nabbed me.”