A few hours after being dismissed from service due to ‘hiding’ her marriage with a Pakistani woman, CRPF jawan Munir Ahmed gave a clarification that he married about a month after getting permission from the force headquarters last year.
Ahmed, a resident of Gharota area of Jammu, who attended the CRPF in April 2017, said he would challenge his dismissal in court. The sacked jawan said, “I am confident of getting justice.”
The Central Reserve Police Force has dismissed Ahmed for “hiding” his marriage with Pakistani woman Meenal Khan and even after the validity of the visa on charges of deliberately giving shelter. Police have said that its activities are harmful to national security.
Ahmed told PTI-language on the phone from his home on Saturday, “I came to know about my dismissal through media reports. I soon received a letter from CRPF in which I was told about the dismissal. It was a shock for me and my family, because I sought permission to marry a Pakistani woman from headquarters and I got permission.”
The marriage case between Ahmed and Khan came to light when India asked Pakistani citizens to leave the country under diplomatic steps taken after the Pahalgam terror attack. 26 people were killed in this attack.
Khan entered India on 28 February via the Wagah-Attari border and its short-term visa ended on 22 March. However, the High Court had stayed her extradition and is currently living in Ahmed’s residence in Jammu.
He said, “I wrote the first letter on December 31, 2022 asking my desire to marry a Pakistani citizen and I was asked to complete the formalities like attaching passports, marriage cards and copies of affidavit. I presented my affidavit and affidavit of my parents and members of my parents, sarpanch and District Development Council through proper medium and finally on 30 April, 2024.”
The CRPF jawan said that he had applied for the No Objection Certificate (NOC), but he was told that no such provision was available and he has already completed the formalities by informing the government about his marriage as per the rules.
Munir said, “We got married online through a video call on May 24 last year.
He said, “When she first came on a 15 -day visa on 28 February, we had applied for a long -term visa in March and completed the necessary formalities including interviews.” He highlighted the fact that this paved the way for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court to provide relief to his wife by prohibiting the exile at the last minute on Wednesday.
Ahmed said that he returned to his duty at the end of his holiday period and was asked to report to the battalion headquarters Sundarbani on 25 March, but on March 27, “I was handed over a transfer order and I was posted in the 41st Battalion in Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) without giving a compulsory charge of 15 days.”
He said, “I was given a copy of the order and immediately relieved, which I have no option but to take charge in Bhopal, where I took charge on March 29. On reaching there, I faced the commanding officer and his deputy interview and also completed the documentation process, which clearly mentioned my marriage to a Pakistani woman.”
He said that he has also entered this in his battalion data record book.
The CRPF jawan said that he would knock the court in the next few days to challenge his dismissal. He said, “I hope I will get justice from the court.”