The financial crunch in Germany seems to be worse than thought. The capital police on Friday found a German in tatters roaming the footpaths of a market in G-7/4.
The man, who identified himself as Bohm Ernst Otto, failed to produce identification documents and was sent to Adiala Jail on a judicial remand, police said. Initially police suspected the 54-year-old Otto of involvement in suspicious activities; however subsequent investigations ruled out such a possibility, a police official said.
“His physical health is poor. He had no money and had been spending his nights on footpaths here,” said a police official, quoting Otto. “Someone called the police station to inform us about the presence of a foreign national in the market, so he was arrested,” the official said.
The German national did not possess a single document that could prove he had legally entered Pakistan, although he claimed to have lost his passport.
Otto told police that he entered Pakistan in 2007 via Lahore on business visa. He said he was in the import-export business. However, he lost all his money in a fraud and was left penniless.
He told the Aabpara police that he also lost his travel documents including his passport, which bore a Pakistani visa. He came to Islamabad to obtain travel documents from the German embassy, but fell ill.
Otto had no permanent place to live in Islamabad and spent most of his time roaming around the markets in G-7, police said.
He told the police that he had contacted the interior ministry, who had demanded copies of FIRs registered on the loss of his travel documents and also details of when he contacted the German embassy to obtain travel documents.
The German national said he was in the process of obtaining the documents when he was arrested. However, a police official said Otto could not provide credible detail on the circumstances under which he lost his money and documents.
“It is also not clear why he took so long to contact the authorities and report the loss of his documents and in obtaining new ones,” said an official.
The German embassy contacted the Aabpara police and was informed of his arrest and subsequent judicial remand for illegal entry and stay in Pakistan. The police said embassy officials were arranging for his travel documents.
Otto gave his date of birth as April 24, 1957 and said he was a resident of Haselünne, a town in Lower Saxony.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 28th, 2012.
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