Sunday, May 15 2005 19:00 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Quetta: Pakistan will deport 29 Indians after they were arrested for illegally entering the country from neighbouring Iran, an official said today (May 15, 2005).

The Indians left Mach, a town near Quetta, by train for the eastern city of Lahore, near the Indian border, today to be returned to their country later in the week, said Abdur Razzaq Shah, superintendent of the jail in Mach where the Indians were held.

The men were arrested about four months ago along the Iranian border for entering Pakistan without visas, Shah said.

Iran is a common route for people from Pakistan and other countries such as India and Bangladesh who try to go to Europe in search of better paying jobs. It was not clear whether the Indians had travelled to Iran through Pakistan.

Shah said the Indians are being released as a goodwill gesture.

Twenty-two other prisoners were freed from the jail in Mach and later returned to India last month, Shah said.