Can’t say right now if Seema Haider is a Pakistani spy: UP Police officer

PTI, Jul 19, 2023, 8:10 PM IST

Seema and her Indian partner Sachin Meena (Credit: PTI)

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday said it would not be appropriate to say if Pakistani citizen Seema Haider, who entered India illegally in May and is staying with her partner in Noida, is a spy “unless we have enough proof”.

Seema (30) and her Indian partner Sachin Meena (22) were questioned by the Uttar Pradesh Police’s Anti-Terrorist Squad on Monday and Tuesday. They were first arrested by the local police in Greater Noida on July 4 but were granted bail by a court on July 7.

When asked if Seema could be a Pakistan spy, Uttar Pradesh Special Director General of Police Prashant Kumar said nothing could be said so early.

“The matter is related to two countries. Till we have enough proof, it would not be appropriate to say anything in this regard,” he said.

In her media interactions since her bail, Seema has been saying she entered India though the Nepal border and travelled to Noida in a bus to be with Sachin whom she met online.

Asked whether the entry of a Pakistani citizen in India through the Nepal border was a security lapse, Kumar said, “This is not so. Our border (with Nepal) is porus. No passport is needed there. Nothing is written on anyone’s face.” Kumar also said no team is being sent to Nepal to probe how she entered India.

But the senior officer evaded a direct reply when asked if Seema could be deported. “The law is there in this regard and it will be followed. Action is being taken as per the legal mandate.” On the ATS questioning of Seema and Sachin, the officer said, “All agencies are doing their work.” The couple, who claims to have gotten married in Nepal earlier this year, had first got in touch in 2019 over online game PUBG.

On July 4, Seema was arrested by local police for entering India illegally and Sachin was held for sheltering illegal immigrants. However, they both were granted bail by a local court on July 7 and have been living together along with her four children in a house in the Rabupura area.

Seema has also said she does not wish to go back to Pakistan and wants to live with Sachin. She also claimed to have turned a Hindu.

Pakistan’s intelligence agencies have informed the country’s government that “love” is the “only” factor that led the mother of four to sneak into India to live with a Hindu man whom she befriended through an online game platform, a media report said on Monday.