PM condoles Sarabjit's death, says Pak did not heed pleas

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed sadness over the death of Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh and asserted that the criminals responsible for the attack will be brought to justice.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said it was "particularly regrettable" that Pakistan "did not heed the pleas...to take a humanitarian view" of the case of Sarabjit Singh who died after being attacked in a Lahore jail.

"Particularly regrettable that the Govt of Pakistan did not heed the pleas.... to take a humanitarian view of this case," tweeted Manmohan Singh after Sarabjit Singh died Thursday in Lahore's Jinnah hospital.

"May his soul be granted the peace that he could not enjoy in life. The nation shares his family's profound grief with them," said another tweet.

A third tweet said that the government "will make the arrangements to bring his remains home and for his last rites to be conducted in consultation with his family".

He also tweeted that the "criminals responsible for the barbaric and murderous attack on Sarabjit Singh must be brought to justice".

PM's statement

"I am deeply saddened by the passing away of Sarabjit Singh. He was a brave son of India who bore his tribulations with valiant fortitude. The criminals responsible for the barbaric and murderous attack on him must be brought to justice. 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. May his soul be granted the peace that he could not enjoy in life. Government will make the arrangements to bring his remains home and for his last rites to be conducted in consultation with his family. The nation shares their profound grief with them."

Sarabjit Singh was viciously attacked by fellow prisoners April 26 in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail.

Sarabjit in Pakistan who was attacked last week by fellow inmates died early Thursday from his injuries, his lawyer and a doctor said.

Sarabjit Singh, who was sentenced to death 16 years ago on espionage charges, died at 1:00 am local time (1:30am IST)) after lying in a comatose state for the last five days, a senior doctor at Jinnah hospital in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore told AFP.

"(His death) was already feared. His condition was more than critical and he had less chances of survival," Singh's lawyer Owais Sheik said.

Sheikh earlier told AFP that his client had received threats following the execution of a Kashmiri separatist in India. Mohammed Afzal Guru was hanged in New Delhi on February 9 for his part in a deadly Islamist attack on the Indian parliament in 2001.

Singh was convicted for his alleged involvement in a string of bomb attacks in Pakistan's Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990. His mercy petitions were rejected by the courts and former president Pervez Musharraf.

(With AFP, IANS inputs)