Pak hands over body of Sarabjit Singh to Indian officials

New Delhi, May 2: The body of Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who died early on Thursday following a brutal assault by other inmates of a jail in Lahore, was handed over to officials of the Indian High Commission by Pakistani authorities.

Earlier, Pakistan gave clearance for a special Indian flight to take back the body.

Two officials of the Indian High Commission received the body.

They will accompany the body on the special flight to India.

Footage on television showed policemen and staff of Jinnah Hospital loading a plain wooden coffin with the body into an ambulance.

Several vehicles with armed policemen escorted the ambulance from the hospital to Lahore international airport.

Pakistani authorities handed over the body after an autopsy was performed by a medical board.

Samples from the body were sent for forensic tests and the final report on the autopsy is expected to be submitted in two weeks, sources said.

Foolproof security was put in place at Jinnah Hospital for the handing over of the body.

Dozens of police commandos were deployed in and around the hospital.

Sarabjit, 49, succumbed early today to injuries sustained during a brutal assault by other inmates of Kot Lakhpat Jail on Friday.

He was hit on the head with bricks and cut with knives fashioned from spoons.

The Indian national had spent about 22 years in Pakistani jails after being convicted of alleged involvement in bomb attacks in Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990.

His mercy petitions were rejected by the courts and former President Pervez Musharraf.

The previous Pakistan People's Party-led government put off Sarabjit's execution for an indefinite period in 2008.

Sarabjit's family says he was the victim of mistaken identity and had mistakenly strayed across the border in an inebriated state.

Pak's Punjab CM orders judicial inquiry into Sarabjit's death

Pakistani authorities has ordered a judicial inquiry into the murder of Indian death row convict Sarabjit Singh, who died after being comatose for nearly a week following an assault by other inmates of Kot Lakhpat Jail.

Najam Sethi, the caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab province, ordered the judicial inquiry on Thursday. He directed officials to ensure that the probe was completed in 15 days.

"Chief Minister Najam Sethi has directed the Home Department to prepare terms of reference for a judicial inquiry into the murder of Sarabjit Singh. The inquiry would be completed within 15 days," a Punjab government spokesman said.

The inquiry will be conducted by a High Court judge, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

Sethi also directed authorities to beef up security for all foreign prisoners in jails across Punjab province, the spokesman said.

The Punjab government has formed an eight-member medical board headed by Umer Farooq Baloch to conduct an autopsy on Sarabjit’s body.

Sarabjit, 49, died at Jinnah Hospital at about 1 a.m. local time, officials said. He had been in a deep coma since he was assaulted by at least six prisoners within his barrack at Kot Lakhpat Jail on Friday.

Police on Thursday added murder charges to an FIR registered against two death row prisoners Amer Aftab and Mudassar booked for attacking him.

No action has been taken so far against officials of the jail for failing to provide adequate security to Sarabjit.

Sarabjit was convicted of alleged involvement in a string of bomb attacks in Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990 and spent about 22 years in Pakistani prisons.

His mercy petitions were rejected by the courts and former President Pervez Musharraf.

The previous Pakistan People's Party-led government put off Sarabjit's execution for an indefinite period in 2008.

Sarabjit's family says he was the victim of mistaken identity and had mistakenly strayed across the border in an inebriated state.

Pak to hand over Sarabjit's body to India: Foreign Office

Pakistan on Thursday said the body of Indian death row convict Sarabjit Singh, who died in a Lahore hospital after a brutal assault in jail, will be handed over to Indian authorities after the early completion of all formalities.

The Pakistan government will continue to facilitate the "early completion of all formalities and hand over the mortal remains of the prisoner to the Indian High Commission at the earliest possible", said a statement from the Foreign Office.

The body of 49-year-old Sarabjit was moved to the mortuary of Jinnah Hospital in Lahore shortly after he died of cardiac arrest at around 1 A.M. (1:30 A.M.IST)

He had been comatose since Friday, when he was attacked by six other prisoners within his barrack at Kot Lakhpat Jail.

The Foreign Office said the Pakistan government had been providing "all assistance to the family of Sarabjit Singh as well as to the Indian authorities since the occurrence of this unfortunate incident".

The statement said Sarabjit had died of cardiac arrest despite being "provided the best treatment available" and the staff of Jinnah Hospital working round the clock to save his life.

Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani was quoted by the media as saying that the body would be "expeditiously" handed over to India after completing necessary formalities.

Official sources in Islamabad and Lahore said an autopsy and other formalities will have to be completed before handing over the body.

A medical board will oversee the autopsy.

The Indian High Commission was in touch with both the federal and Punjab governments on the issue, the sources said.

Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal, who is in Lahore, is expected to meet Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister Najam Sethi Thursday afternoon.

Sarabjit was convicted of alleged involvement in a string of bomb attacks in Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990 and spent about 22 years in Pakistani prisons.

His family says he was the victim of mistaken identity and had inadvertently strayed across the border in an inebriated state.

Sarabjit dies in Lahore hospital

Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh died in a Lahore hospital on Thursday after being comatose for six days following a brutal assault by other inmates of a high-security jail, officials said.

"I received a call from the doctor on duty (at Jinnah Hospital) at 1 am (1:30 IST) informing me that Sarabjit is no more," Mahmood Shaukat, the head of a medical board that was supervising Sarabjit's treatment, told the news agency.

Officials of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad said they had been informed by officials of Jinnah Hospital about Sarabjit's death.

Shaukat said authorities were yet to decide on conducting an autopsy of Sarabjit's body. Asked whether the autopsy would be done after getting permission from the government, he said, "At the moment I have no idea."

No decision had been made about handing over the body to Sarabjit's kin or to Indian authorities, he said.

"These matters will be worked out according to the directions from the government," he said.

Earlier in the day, official sources in Lahore had said Sarabjit had slipped into a "non-reversible" coma and this could lead to "brain death".

His measurements on the Glasgow Coma Scale, which indicates the levels of consciousness and damage to a person's central nervous system, had dropped to a "critical level", the sources said.

Sarabjit was completely unresponsive and unable to breathe without ventilator support.

Sarabjit, 49, sustained severe injuries, including a fractured skull, when at least six prisoners attacked him in a barrack at Kot Lakhpat Jail on Friday afternoon.

He was hit on the head with bricks and had been comatose in hospital since then. Police have booked two death row prisoners Amer Aftab and Mudassar for the attack.

They reportedly told investigators that they had attacked Sarabjit because he had allegedly carried out bomb attacks in Lahore.