ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday demanded immediate shifting of Sanaullah, the prisoner who suffered serious head injuries after being attacked by other inmate former Indian Army personnel in Kot Bhalwal jail in occupied Kashmir, to Pakistan for his treatment.
Sanaullah was tortured early in the morning by other inmates in apparent tit-for-tat violence after Sarabjit Singh, an Indian in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat prison, who was jailed 16 years ago for spying and deadly bombings, died on Thursday as a result of a savage assault by inmates.
Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said on Friday his country’s mission in New Delhi had contacted Indian authorities and was seeking details of the attack and consular access to Ranjay.
”This obvious retaliation to the death of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh is condemnable,” Chaudhry said in a statement.
”We would also remind the government of India of its responsibility in ensuring the safety and security of all Pakistani prisoners lodged in Indian jails,” the statement said.
Moreover, Pakistan sought immediate transfer of Sanaullah to Pakistan for treatment purposes.
A spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Syed Akbaruddin, said Indian officials were ensuring that Ranjay gets the medical treatment he requires and would grant consular access to him as soon as his condition stabilises.
He said India had issued an advisory to strengthen security for Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails.
According to Akbaruddin, there are 535 Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails and 272 Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails. He said India was proposing a meeting of officials in both countries to ”identify and put in place further measures to avoid such tragic incidents in future.”
“He has been admitted in GMC Hospital with grievous head injuries,” an official at the main prison in the northwestern city of Jammu said on condition of anonymity.
DND
