Sanaullah's body to be handed over to Pak: Shinde

Says Ministry of External Affairs is coordinating with the Pakistani authorities to complete the formalities

The body of Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay, who succumbed to injuries in a Chandigarh hospital today, will be handed over to Pakistan.

"We will hand over the body to Pakistan," Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told PTI.

Shinde said the Ministry of External Affairs is coordinating with the Pakistani authorities to complete the formalities to send back his body home. "Once the formalities are done, we will hand over the body," he said.

Sources said a detailed post-mortem of Sanaullah, 52, would be done in Chandigarh and the travel arrangements would be made as per the request made by Pakistan.

Government has been informed that Pakistan is arranging an aircraft to fly his body back home, the sources said, adding "If they arrange a non-military registered plane, the clearance would be prompt".

Sanaullah, a convicted terrorist serving life sentence, was injured in a scuffle with another inmate in the high-security Kot Balwal jail in Jammu and rushed to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh on Friday last week.

An official spokesperson in the MEA later said that India will facilitate Pakistan's request to repatriate the body of Sanaullah and will provide necessary assistance.

In view of the tragic events, including the killing of two Indians in Pakistani jails and the Sanaullah incident, India has proposed that the officials of the two countries meet and take forward the recommendations of a judicial committee on humane treatment of prisoners, he said.

A Pakistani response to the proposal is awaited, the spokesperson said.