Jawan Anand Patri of Kalyani village under the Dhamanagar police station in Bhadrak district has been languishing in a jail in Pakistan for years. Patri, who had been inducted in the Indian Army in 1955-56, participated in the 1962 war with China and in the war with Pakistan in 1965.
He became a war prisoner in 1965 and has been languishing in Kot Lakhpat Central Jail in Lahore ever since. Earlier Chief Minister Utpal Roy, Member, International Human Rights Council (India Chapter) and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had requested India’s Minister of External Affairs for taking early steps, like interacting with his Pakistan counterpart for Patri’s release in a letter December 12, 2020. Bhadrak MP Manjulata Mandal had also sent a letter to External Affairs Minister and the Chief Minister. But there is no progress in the issue. Patri’s family members are now highly agonised and still hopeful that he would be released.
As per the Geneva Convention, a prison of war (PoW) cannot be detained for more than 12 years, but Patri is yet to be released.