LAHORE: Sarabjit Singh, an Indian jailed in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat on espionage charges, was attacked by his inmates on Friday. His condition was reportedly serious and was shifted to a hospital.
According to reports, Singh was attacked with “bricks and plates” when he came out for lunch from his special barrack. It was not immediately clear what had prompted the other prisoners to attack the Indian inmate.
Singh was immediately rushed to the Jinnah Hospital in Lahore for emergency medical aid where doctors said he was currently undergoing a CT scan.
The prison administration confirmed Singh suffered serious wounds to his head.
Meanwhile, the government suspended Assistant Superintendent and a warden of the jail for negligence. While Foreign Office spokesman said Indian High Commission contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the issue.
Singh was convicted for his involvement in serial bomb blasts in Lahore and Faisalabad in 1990. He was awarded the death sentence in 1991, but his hanging has been repeatedly postponed. So far five mercy petitions have been filed on his behalf, in which Sarabjit maintains that he has served twenty two years of prison term for a crime is innocent of.
On 26 June 2012, it was reported that Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari had ordered his release after the petition was filed on 28 May 2012 but five hours later this pardon was revoked and it was claimed that another prisoner Surjeet Singh was released not Sarabjit.
DND