Motive of attack on Sarabjit Singh was to kill him: Autopsy panel

AMRITSAR: The motive behind the attack on Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh in a Pakistani prison was to " kill him," a panel of doctors, which conducted the second autopsy, said today.

"It was a clear case...the motive of attack (on Sarabjit) was to kill him," Dr H S Rai, Head of Forensic Science Department, Government Medical College and Hospital here, who led the five-member doctors' panel, said.

49-year-old Sarabjit's second post-mortem, after the first one done at Lahore in Pakistan, was conducted by the panel, which also comprised Sudhir Khichi (Head, Surgery), H S Sohal, (Head, Medicine), Amarjit Singh (Head, Pathology) and Veena Chatrath (Head, Anaesthesia).

Sarabjit's body bore multiple injuries, indicating that there were certainly more than two persons who attacked him inside the jail, the report said.

"A single man cannot harm a healthy person like Sarabjit the way he received injuries...there were certainly more persons who attacked him," one of the doctors said, adding that the injuries were 6-7 days old.

Sarabjit's skull was broken into two pieces, jaw and bones were fractured and certain vital organs from the body were missing, the doctor said.

"Some parts, which are vital for conducting autopsy, were missing," he said, adding that they have sought the report of the first post-mortem conducted at Lahore to arrive at a clear conclusion on the circumstances leading to Sarabjit's death.

Among other organs, which were missing included the heart, gall bladder and kidneys, besides five ribs were fractured.

"The brain area was having a severe injury. The brain was missing and the injuries were caused by heavy blunt weapons," the doctor said.

However, no injuries were found to have been caused by sharp-edged weapons as some of the the wounds were stitched and the scalp was swollen, he said adding that there were at least 6 to 7 injuries on the head.

The real cause of death could only be known after the viscera report comes, doctors added.