March 28: Islamabad today confirmed that Abdul Karim from Bengal’s North Dinajpur district was being held in a Pakistan jail.

The deputy superintendent of Rawalpindi Adiala Jail, Mohsin Rafiq, told The Telegraph: “I confirm that Abdul Karim is imprisoned in Adiala jail for the past one year. He is an Indian national who was sentenced to five years in jail. I don’t know what his crime was but he was brought to this jail from Punjab’s Jhelum city after being sentenced there.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross had “stumbled” upon Abdul in the Rawalpindi jail. The 22-year-old went missing from a Punjab madarsa three years ago.

A Red Cross team that visited North Dinajpur in December said it did not know how Abdul, from Betabi village, 50km from Islampur town, landed in Pakistan.

Rafiq, however, claimed the Red Cross had not approached the jail. He declined further comment citing the “sensitivity of the issue”.

A jail official said the duration of the sentence suggested Abdul was charged with a minor crime like overstaying.

In Islamabad, a Red Cross spokesperson refused to discuss the issue. “We do not disclose findings… on such sensitive issues,” said Marco Sushi. “I can neither confirm nor deny the reports. If we do, nobody will ever allow us to visit jails.”

Hearing that Islamabad had confirmed their son’s arrest, Mohammed Tajuddin and his wife Gulshan Begum said they would go to Delhi and plead for his release.

“We’ll request the foreign ministry to do something so that our son is released,” said Tajuddin, a home guard.

The couple will approach local MP and Union minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi and seek his help. He is scheduled to visit Dalkhola (25km from Betabi) tomorrow.

Abdul had been sent to the Patiala madarsa in 2003. His letters stopped coming in 2005. The family had presumed he was dead till the Red Cross brought a letter from him in December 2007.