Sarabjit case: Pak court issues arrest warrant against jail official

A Pakistani court has issued a bailable arrest warrant against a top jail official for failing to appear before it in connection with the 2013 murder case of Indian national Sarabjit Singh.

According to the Dawn, the jail officer failed to appear before the court despite repeated summons issued to him. Taking strong notice of the officer's conduct, an Additional District and Sessions Judge directed the Lahore Police chief to ensure the appearance of the Deputy Superintendent on February 17.

The judge said there had been 'little' progress in Sarabjit's case.

Suspects Amir Tamba and Mudassar had been indicted in the murder case. They were fellow prisoners of Sarabjit and allegedly tortured him to death in May 2013.

A one-man judicial commission of Justice Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi of the Lahore High Court had initially investigated Sarabjit's murder case before the trial kicked off in the sessions court.

Sarabjit had been sentenced to death for alleged involvement in a string of bombings in 1990 in Pakistan, which created a huge furore back in India.

Several mercy petitions were filed by Singh's lawyers. The fifth petition was filed on May 2012 along with 100,000 signatures collected from India. None of the mercy petitions were granted.