Dismissed trooper appeals for justice, says married Pak cousin after CRPF nod

Jammu: A day after being dismissed from service for allegedly concealing his marriage with a Pakistani woman, CRPF trooper Munir Ahmed on Sunday said he married his cousin nearly a month after getting permission from the force’s headquarters last year.

Addressing a press conference here, Ahmed, a resident of Jammu’s Gharotra area, said their marriage was arranged by their families, and he will challenge his dismissal in court.

He also appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and the CRPF to relook into his case, claiming that “he has completed all the formalities as per the rules and had done no wrong.”

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has dismissed Ahmed for “concealing” his marriage with Pakistani woman Minal Khan, saying his actions were detrimental to national security.

“My wife is the daughter of my maternal uncle, who migrated from Jammu to Pakistan during partition in 1947,” Ahmed, who joined CRPF in 2017, told reporters here, terming the social media reports claiming that they met online and fell in love as “false and fabricated.”

Displaying the documents and pictures to support his claim, he said: “After getting the nod from the headquarters, our families decided to go ahead with the marriage online without waiting for the visa after the condition of my father, a cancer patient, deteriorated. His treatment was also borne by the force.”

Ahmed’s marriage with Khan came to light after India asked Pakistani nationals to leave the country as part of diplomatic measures taken in the wake of the Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 26 people were killed.

Khan entered India through the Wagah-Attari border on February 28, and her short-term visa ended on March 14. However, her deportation was stayed by the High Court considering his application for a long-term visa (LTV), and she is presently staying in Ahmed’s Jammu residence.

“I made the first correspondence on December 31, 2022, informing my wish to marry the Pakistani national, and I was asked to complete formalities like enclosing copies of my passport, marriage card and affidavits and the proposed marriage destination.

“I submitted my affidavit and also the affidavits of my parents, sarpanch, and district development council member through proper channels and finally got a go-ahead from the headquarters on April 30, 2024,” he said.

The CRPF trooper said he applied for a No Objection Certificate (NOC), but he was told that such a provision is not available, and he has already completed the formalities by informing the government about his marriage to a foreign national in accordance with the rules.

“We got married online on May 24 last year through a video call. Subsequently, I submitted marriage pictures, ‘Nikkah’ papers and marriage certificate to my 72 Battalion, where I was posted. The CRPF trooper said he will be moving the court in the next few days to challenge his dismissal.