Sarabjit attacked in Lahore prison, sister terms it a conspiracy

Tarn Taran/Lahore, April 26 (IANS) Indian death row convict Sarabjit Singh was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Lahore's Jinnah Hospital following a murderous attack on him by fellow prisons in the city's Kot Lakhpat jail Friday afternoon, his family in Indian Punjab said.

Sarabjit Singh, who was initially reported to be critical with head injuries, was later reported to be stable by hospital doctors. He was attacked by 4-5 prisoners with bricks and plates.

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

His sister Dalbir Kaur alleged in Tarn Taran that the attack on Sarabjit Singh was "pre-meditated and deliberate".

A sobbing Dalbir Kaur said: "Some prisoners had been threatening him. It was a conspiracy and he was deliberately attacked. Why was he not protected? I want to go to Pakistan immediately."

"If our government had taken steps, this attack would not have taken place. I had met the home minister, Preneet Kaur (minister of state for external affairs) and all others with letters mentioning that Sarabjit Singh could be attacked. No one did anything and the attack has taken place," Dalbir Kaur, who lives in Bhikhiwind town of Tarn Taran district, 50 km from Amritsar, said.

Pakistan human rights activist Ansar Burney, who has been pleading for clemency to Sarabjit Singh, said that the attack looked "suspicious".

"The attack looks suspicious. Someone could be behind this. No bricks or other material can reach the place where Sarabjit has been kept. This must be thoroughly investigated," Burney told news channels from Karachi.

Sarabjit's family claims that he had inadvertently crossed into Pakistan in August 1990 in an inebriated state and was arrested there. But the police in Pakistan claimed Sarabjit Singh, who is known as Manjit Singh in the country, was involved in acts of terrorism. A resident of Bhikhiwind township, along the India-Pakistan border, Sarabjit Singh had been languishing in Pakistani jails since then.