Pakistani prisoner attacked in Jammu jail, in coma

A Pakistani prisoner in the high security Kot Bhalwal jail here was critically injured when he was attacked by a fellow prisoner, police said Friday, a day after Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh died after being attacked in Lahore.

Sanaullah, a resident of Sialkot, was attacked by a former Indian Army soldier, convicted for murder, following an altercation Friday morning, a police officer said.

He received serious head injuries and was taken to the Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu, where doctors said he had slipped into a coma, much like Sarabjit Singh who was attacked in a Lahore jail on April 26 and died Thursday.

"He has suffered serious head injuries and is in a coma. He has been admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and we are planning surgery on him as early as possible," a doctor at the hospital said.

The administration has readied stand-by arrangements to shift Sanaullah for specialised treatment outside Jammu and Kashmir "if required", an official said

Police said Sanaullah was being tried for murder since the late 1990s for carrying out act of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.