The Jammu and Kashmir Crime Branch has filed chargesheets against 65 people accused of overstaying in India, including 15 who have died. Officials said several had lived in the Jammu division for decades, married local residents and raised families.
The Jammu and Kashmir Crime Branch has filed chargesheets against 65 people accused of illegally staying in India after entering the country on Pakistani passports, including 15 who are now dead, officials said.
The latest chargesheet was filed on October 23 before the Special Mobile Magistrate in Kathua. It names five accused, three of whom have died. The first chargesheet, against 12 people, including four deceased individuals, was filed before the Munsiff Court in Jammu on November 24 last year, officials said.
The proceedings follow a police crackdown launched after the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 civilians. In its aftermath, the Centre cancelled short-term visas issued to Pakistani nationals and set a deadline for them to leave India.
According to officials, the 65 accused had entered India on valid Pakistani passports and lived in Jammu, Poonch, Rajouri and Kathua districts for four to five decades. Several had married local residents and had children and grandchildren.
The chargesheets follow investigations into eight cases linked to FIR No. 16/2024, registered at the Special Crime Wing police station in Jammu. The case was registered after information emerged that Pakistani nationals, including residents of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, had entered India on valid travel documents from the late 1970s onwards and continued to reside in the Jammu division.
Investigators alleged that some accused had fraudulently obtained Indian identity documents by concealing their foreign nationality, while others had secured government jobs using forged documents.
A Special Investigation Team constituted by the Crime Branch headquarters investigated the cases under relevant provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946, the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920, the Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 1950, and the Ranbir Penal Code, officials said.
The Indian spouses, family members and others allegedly involved in the conspiracy have also been chargesheeted, they added.
The post-Pahalgam crackdown also affected Pakistani nationals, particularly women who had travelled to the region on visas after marrying local residents.
In several cases, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court stayed deportations. These included the case of police head constable Ifthkar Ali and his eight siblings, who were reportedly on their way to the Attari border when the court intervened.
The court also halted the deportation of Menal Khan, a Pakistani national who had married a CRPF jawan in Jammu. The jawan was later dismissed from service for allegedly concealing his marriage to a Pakistani national.