Ensure early release of innocent Indian, Parkash Singh Badal tells Centre

BIKHIWIND (TARN TARAN): Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today asked the Centre to make concerted efforts for ensuring early release of all innocent Indian prisoners languishing in foreign jails, especially in Pakistan.

The Centre should exploit all diplomatic channels to ensure early release of innocent Indian prisoners so that they could meet their families, the Chief Minister said while talking to reporters after attending the funeral of Sarabjit Singh, who was brutally killed in a Pakistani jail.

The government must raise this issue on international forums and with concerned countries, so that innocent prisoners can return back.

Expressing grief over the death of Sarabjit Singh, Badal said, Sarabjit Singh was a true national martyr and added that the state government will take every step for ensuring his family's well being.

Reiterating that the country should know the exact cause of Sarabjit's death, he said the Centre must build pressure to get the case investigated by an impartial international agency.

Replying to another query, the Chief Minister categorically said, the state government was committed towards ensuring safety and security of Pakistani prisoners lodged in the jails of Punjab, adding that he had asked the Director General of Police (DGP) Jails to beef up security of such prisoners to avoid any untoward incident.