Indian woman on Sikh pilgrimage in Pakistan goes missing? Cops share update

A woman pilgrim from Punjab who was part of the jatha’ (group) visiting Pakistan to offer prayers at the Nankana Sahib has still not returned, police said on Friday.

Sarbjit Kaur was part of the ‘jatha’ consisting of over 1,900 Sikh members that went to Pakistan on November 4 and was found to be missing after the group returned on Thursday night, (HT_PRINT)

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She was among the many Sikh community members from India who were visiting the bordering nation for the 556th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev. Identified as Sarbjit Kaur, a resident of Amanipur village in Punjab’s Kapurthala, the woman crossed over to Pakistan via Attari-Wagah border.

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Police have launched an investigation to check her whereabouts and three cases have been registered at various police stations in Kapurthala, said Station House Officer (SHO) of Talwandi Chaudhrian, Nirmal Singh.

Sarbjit was part of the ‘jatha’ consisting of over 1,900 Sikh members that went to Pakistan on November 4 to participate in the ‘Parkash Purb’ celebrations at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib and to visit other important Sikh shrines.

While the group she was with returned on Thursday night, she was not among them.

According to news agency PTI, immigration authorities in Pakistan have informed their Indian counterparts about the incident as Indian immigration authorities are working to obtain more details about Kaur and her family members from her village.

First Jatha after Operation Sindoor

The jatha that returned on Thursday after 10 days of pilgrimage to Nankana Sahib and visiting other historic gurdwaras was the first one following Operation Sindoor as India had imposed travel restrictions to Pakistan.

The Union government granted permission on October 2, two weeks after initially refusing it due to security concerns. Earlier, Sikhs were also barred from visiting Pakistan for Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s death anniversary in June.

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