Pakistan hands over Sarabjit Singh's belongings

ISLAMABAD: On November 25, Pakistan handed over to Indian officials, 36 items belonging to death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who died after a brutal attack inside a jail in April, and asked India to reciprocate by releasing fishermen and other prisoners.

"We received the items today. We are making arrangements for them to be sent back to India," a senior official of the Indian high commission here said.

In August, Indian officials formally requested Pakistan's foreign office to facilitate the return of Sarabjit's clothes and other belongings, which were retained by prison authorities in Lahore, to his family.

The administration of Kot Lakhpat Jail transferred his personal belongings to the interior ministry last month.

The item include a copy of the Quran, three holy books in Hindi, a rosary, five sets of clothes, a sleeping mattress, a pitcher, a blanket and shoes.

The move to hand them over came after Sarabjit's sister Dalbir Kaur requested home minister Sushilkumar Shinde to bring back his belongings.

Pakistan's interior ministry said the Indian government should reciprocate by releasing Pakistani fishermen and prisoners.

"We wish all Indian prisoners well and request Indian government's reciprocal spirit in releasing the fishermen and other prisoners as the ones we have released far outnumber the ones released by Indian authorities," interior ministry spokesman Omar Hameed Khan told PTI.

In August, Pakistan had freed 337 Indian fishermen, including seven juveniles, held for violating the country's maritime boundary.

On May 2, Sarabjit succumbed to head injuries he sustained when some Pakistani prisoners attacked him. He had been sentenced to death for alleged involvement in a string of bombings in 1990.

His family had maintained that Sarabjit, a farmer from a village located along the border, had strayed into Pakistan in an inebriated condition.