Ludo and love

It all began in 2019, when Iqra, a student from Hyderabad in Pakistan, often played online Ludo to unwind. One random match introduced her to Mulayam, a native of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh who had studied only till Class 12 and worked as a security guard in Bengaluru. From casual chats, their conversations led to a deep emotional connection, and the digital friendship saw love blossom.

Iqra, a student from Hyderabad in Pakistan, often played online Ludo to unwind. (Express Photo)

The couple soon decided to live together and were ready to risk everything to make that happen. In September 2022, Mulayam hatched a plan to bring Iqra to India illegally and give her a new identity so they could live together for the rest of their lives.

Using all his savings and borrowing money from friends, he made Iqra travel from Pakistan to Dubai and then Nepal, where Iqra took on a new identity as Riya Yadav. In the shadow of the Himalayas, they married under Hindu rituals. He brought her across the border by bus and introduced her to his family and neighbours as Riya. She blended in easily, and the Urdu accent in her Hindi somehow went unnoticed.

Starting anew in Bengaluru

The family celebrated the wedding in their hometown and Mulayam took her to Bengaluru to avoid any suspicion. In Bengaluru, the couple rented a modest home near the Ayyappa Temple in Junnasandra, Sarjapur Road. Mulayam resumed his job while Iqra managed the household. Neighbours described them as a quiet, loving pair. “They never fought. You wouldn’t suspect anything strange,” a neighbour told The Indian Express earlier. Even the landlord, Gopal Reddy, had no clue — the lease was through an agency.

Mulayam arranged for a fake Aadhaar card. In it, her name read “Riya Yadav” in English. In Kannada, however, a mistranslation led it to say “Rava Yadav”, but that too went unnoticed.

A phone call amid G20 summit preparations

The two were doing well and Riya was happy with Mulayam. A police officer who was part of the investigation said Riya did not call her parents for some time. But as time passed, she felt the need to get in touch with them. Over WhatsApp, she made a call to her family, introducing Mulayam as ‘Sameer’, a Muslim man she had married. Her happiness was, however, short-lived.

That single act caught the eye of Indian intelligence officials and proved to be her undoing. Unfortunately for the couple, security agencies were on high alert at the time since the G20 Summit and Aero India 2023 were approaching, and extra attention was being paid to Bengaluru since it is a metropolitan city which draws global attention, an officer said.

The call came under suspicion, and authorities began to track Riya and Mulayam’s numbers. Riya’s calls led them to discover that she was a Pakistani national living illegally in India under a false identity. Intelligence agencies passed the information to the Bengaluru City police.

In the third week of January, Bellandur police stormed their home. Riya and Mulayam were arrested and her real name came to light. S Girish, then deputy commissioner of police, Whitefield, announced the arrests of Iqra, Mulayam and Gopal, the landlord.

The city police shared information with the Ministry of External Affairs. A police officer said, “Intelligence officials came down to Bengaluru and even checked her mobile phone and other details to see if she was a spy from Pakistan. After thorough verification, it became clear that it was just a love story.

Not realising that she was being deported

Mulayam spent a few days in police custody before he was sent to Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru. After confirming Iqra’s whereabouts in Pakistan, intelligence agencies found out that her family initially filed a missing complaint but withdrew it later.

After holding diplomatic talks, it was decided to drop the case against Iqra which would allow her to be deported from India. Iqra had been spending her days at a government shelter where her only request was to talk to her husband.

In February 2023, Iqra was deported to Pakistan but she was unaware of it till the very last minute. The woman police officer who handed over her custody at the border recalls that the moment Iqra got to know that she was being separated from Yadav, she cried inconsolably, begging them not to send her to Pakistan.

“She did not want to go back. When we started our journey from Bengaluru, we did not inform her about the deportation but said she was being taken for investigation and to get the passport and other documents. It was only after she saw Pakistan officials that she broke down and begged us to allow her talk to Shammu (Mulayam). We were in a huge dilemma. We had to follow the law and hand her over to our counterparts in Pakistan,” the officer recounted.

Before Iqra left, she passed on the contact numbers of her family members and asked them to give it to Mulayam. “She said she would wait for him forever and requested us to inform him to call once he comes out of jail,” a police officer added.

Present status

Iqra’s family in Pakistan did not respond to calls. There has been no update about her since the deportation.

Meanwhile, Mulayam and Gopal were charged in the case. Mulayam was accused of creating false and forged documents. Both have since been released on bail and the case is in the trial stage.