Sarabjit Singh: Killed Indian 'spy' to be buried amid outrage

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2 May 2013 Last updated at 21:21 ET
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Sarabjit Singh: Killed Indian 'spy' to be buried amid outrage
Indians hold a picture of Sarabjit Singh during an anti-Pakistani protest. Photo: 2 May 2013 Sarabjit Singh's death in Pakistan triggered angry protests across India
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Obituary: Sarabjit Singh
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An Indian man convicted of spying in Pakistan and killed in a local jail is to be buried in India, amid mass outrage across the country.

Big crowds are expected to attend the state funeral of Sarabjit Singh in his home village near the city of Amritsar.

Sarabjit Singh - who was sentenced to death by Pakistan in 1991 - died after being attacked with bricks by other inmates in Lahore's jail.

Delhi said the attack was "barbaric", demanding the perpetrators be punished.

Sarabjit Singh had been sentenced to death for spying and his role in bomb attacks that killed 14 people in Pakistan in 1990.
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The unfortunate death of Sarabjit Singh again highlights how ordinary citizens have actually become the biggest victims of an intractable rivalry”

image of Soutik Biswas Soutik Biswas India correspondent

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His family always insisted he was innocent and had strayed into Pakistan by mistake when he was arrested.

The issue risks stirring fresh tensions in relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours and long-time rivals, correspondents say.
'Brave son of India'

The body of 49-year-old Sarabjit Singh was flown to Amritsar, northern India, from Lahore on Thursday.

Hundreds of grieving people waited at the airport, describing Sarabjit Singh as a "martyr".

His death triggered protests in India, as people burned Pakistani flags and accused Islamabad of hatching a conspiracy to kill him.
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Sarabjit Singh

Accused of spying and involvement in the 1990 bomb attacks in Lahore and Faisalabad in which 14 people died
Convicted and sentenced to death in 1991
Pakistan says his real name was Manjit Singh
Campaigners allege his trial was unfair and he confessed under torture
His family says he was a farmer who strayed into Pakistan by mistake while drunk
Delhi unsuccessfully appealed for his release or transfer to India
Died after being attacked by inmates in Lahore's prison

Obituary: Sarabjit Singh

His body will be handed over to his family in the village of Bikhiwind for cremation at 14:00 local time (08:30 GMT) on Friday.

In a statement, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Sarabjit Singh "a brave son of India" and said the attack was "barbaric".

"It is particularly regrettable that the government of Pakistan did not heed the pleas of the government of India, Sarabjit's family and of civil society in India and Pakistan to take a humanitarian view of this case," he added.

He was referring to mercy petitions which had been rejected by Pakistani courts and former President Pervez Musharraf.

Sarabjit Singh's sister Dalbir Kaur called her brother's death "a murder by Pakistan", according to the Associated Press.

Ms Kaur said she would continue to fight for the release of other Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails.
Espionage accusations

Sarabjit Singh fell into a coma after last Friday's attack in Lahore's Jinnah hospital and died on Thursday morning.

He had been assaulted as he and other prisoners were brought out of their cells for a one-hour break.
Sarabjit Singh's body is moved after an autopsy, 2 May 2013 An autopsy was carried out before Sarabjit Singh's body was cleared for transfer to India

Two inmates were charged with attempted murder and two officials suspended.

The Pakistani foreign ministry said Sarabjit Singh had received "the best treatment available" and that "medical staff at Jinnah Hospital had been working round the clock... to save his life".

Tensions between the two countries had already increased in the past six months with the execution in India of Kashmiri Afzul Guru over the 2001 attack on India's parliament, and of Mohammed Ajmal Qasab, a Pakistani who was the sole surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Sarabjit Singh's lawyer Owais Sheikh said his client had received threats after Guru's execution.

Pakistan and India frequently arrest each other's citizens, often accusing them of being spies after they have strayed across the land or maritime border.

In recent years, several Indians returning from Pakistani jails have admitted to spying.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-22392536



what's the real story here? @alybaba @zerozero

 

[Slaimon Khan Shah]

WAS HE FOR ISLAM OR AGAINST ISLAM?

 

[Jatt]

This dude was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ventured into the Pakistan side of Punjab where he got scapegoated for some bombings/attacks.

 

[alybaba]

This story is difficult to pin down.

He was possibly just a drunk farmer who stumbled across the border.

But then there is a confession, but was it taken legitimately? Probably not.

No one really seemed to give a shyt about him over the years and the main guy fighting for him were a Pakistani human rights activist and his Pakistani defence attorney.

India giving him a state funeral and declaring 3 day mourning seems like subtle admission that he was at the service of the country.

And today in India, some guys attacked a Pakistani prisoner.

fukked up all around.

 

[alybaba]

Well, seems like the Pakistanis were right. He was an intelligence agent.

Was Sarabjit Singh a RAW agent? - Hindustan Times

Sarabjit Singh had gone to Pakistan for an operation managed by a senior Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) official, who later became the external intelligence agency's chief as well, sources have told HT.


"Sarabjit was an Indian spy in Pakistan. He managed to accomplish the task given to him but was caught while trying to flee," said an intelligence source who refused to elaborate more on the operation taken up by the spy.

A former intelligence official, who dealt with Sarabjit's case, said the operation executed by Sarabjit didn't serve any tactical purpose but still the agency had executed many such missions in Pakistan in the early and mid 90s.

"Some of the operations executed by the RAW during the period were totally mindless. Spies like Sarabjit and their family have paid huge cost for it. Sometimes, the agency officials executed operations out of personal bravado that they can get 'something' done in Pakistan," said the official.

Sources also point out that the agency is yet to evolve a policy for paying spies like Sarabjit or their families when they caught in the enemy land.

"Payments vary case to case depending on the nature of operation. There is no uniformity in discreet payments to families when such agents are caught or eliminated by the enemy," says a source.

"Sarabjit had been awarded a state funeral because his case was mainly highlighted due to efforts of his politically astute sister Dalbir Kaur. His family is also being compensated, But there are many cases in which the spies came back from Pakistan knocked the doors of courts to get their dues," the source said.