LAHORE, Oct 14: A resident of Shahdara has appealed to President Asif Ali Zardari to launch diplomatic efforts for return of his wife, who has been languishing in an Indian jail in spite of completion of her six-month sentence.

Hafeez Ahmed, who turned up at the Lahore Press Club along with his three children on Tuesday, told newsmen that his wife Farzana was caught at Atari Border by Indian authorities for carrying fake Indian currency.

She was awarded sentence by an Indian court but she had not been released despite passage of 18 months.

"I traveled to New Delhi and submitted documentary evidence of my wife to Pakistani High Commission after I was informed that sentence of my wife had been over," he said.

He regretted that though the Pakistani government had released 35 Indian prisoners on August 14, the Indian authorities were not releasing the Pakistanis who had completed their sentence and their documents were complete. "My children daily ask me about their mother before they go to bed and it becomes painful for me to handle them," he said.