Government failed in ensuring Sarabjit Singh's safety: BJP

New Delhi, April 28 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunday said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had failed in ensuring the safety of Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who is in coma after a murderous attack in a Lahore jail.

"There has been inaction on the part of the Indian government in Sarabjit Singh's case. Despite being given information by his family that he might be attacked and was threatened in jail, the Indian government remained silent and did not ensure his security," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

The BJP demanded that Sarabjit be immediately brought back to India for treatment.

"The country is in anger and we demand that he be brought back to India immediately," said BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

Sarabjit, 49, suffered critical head injuries in an unprovoked and sudden assault by four to five prisoners with bricks and plates in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat prison Friday evening.

He has been on death row in Pakistan since 1990 after being convicted by Pakistani courts for bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan, which left 14 people dead.

Sarabjit's family claims he is innocent, and that he crossed over to Pakistan in August 1990 in an inebriated state, to be arrested there.

Police in Pakistan, however, claim that Sarabjit Singh, known as Manjit Singh, was involved in terrorist strikes.