Sarabjit Singh in critical condition after being attacked in Lahore jail | NDTV.com
Lahore: Indian national Sarabjit Singh, currently on death row in a jail here in Pakistan, today suffered head injury and was admitted to a hospital after he was attacked by a fellow prisoner. He is reportedly in a critical condition and doctors are expected to perform a surgery soon.
Sarabjit was admitted to the state-run Jinnah Hospital after being attacked within Kot Lakhpat Jail, news channels quoted officials as saying. The attack reportedly occurred while Sarabjit was being moved from one cell to another.
He sustained a head injury and was initially taken to the hospital within the prison. After his condition worsened, Sarabjit was taken in an ambulance to Jinnah Hospital.
There has been no official statement on the incident so far. Two officials from the Indian embassy have rushed to Lahore from Islamabad.
The Kot Lakhpat jail currently has some 17,000 prisoners though its official capacity is only 4,000. There have been instances in the past of prisoners being attacked and even killed within the prison.
Authorities had tightened Sarabjit's security after the recent execution in India of Afzal Guru, who was convicted of involvement in the 2001 terror attack on the Parliament.
Sarabjit was convicted for alleged involvement in a string of bomb attacks in Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990.
His mercy petitions were rejected by the courts and former President Pervez Musharraf.
The outgoing Pakistan Peoples Party-led government put off Sarabjit's execution for an indefinite period in 2008.
Sarabjit's family says he is the victim of mistaken identity and had inadvertently strayed across the border in a drunk state.
"This is not something that we can ignore. Naturally, this will have very very serious consequences. Whatever has happened, our jail authorities are responsible for that. Hope god saves Sarabjit Singh. He has been seriously hurt," Owais Sheikh, Sarabjit's lawyer said.
Lahore: Indian national Sarabjit Singh, currently on death row in a jail here in Pakistan, today suffered head injury and was admitted to a hospital after he was attacked by a fellow prisoner. He is reportedly in a critical condition and doctors are expected to perform a surgery soon.
Sarabjit was admitted to the state-run Jinnah Hospital after being attacked within Kot Lakhpat Jail, news channels quoted officials as saying. The attack reportedly occurred while Sarabjit was being moved from one cell to another.
He sustained a head injury and was initially taken to the hospital within the prison. After his condition worsened, Sarabjit was taken in an ambulance to Jinnah Hospital.
There has been no official statement on the incident so far. Two officials from the Indian embassy have rushed to Lahore from Islamabad.
The Kot Lakhpat jail currently has some 17,000 prisoners though its official capacity is only 4,000. There have been instances in the past of prisoners being attacked and even killed within the prison.
Authorities had tightened Sarabjit's security after the recent execution in India of Afzal Guru, who was convicted of involvement in the 2001 terror attack on the Parliament.
Sarabjit was convicted for alleged involvement in a string of bomb attacks in Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990.
His mercy petitions were rejected by the courts and former President Pervez Musharraf.
The outgoing Pakistan Peoples Party-led government put off Sarabjit's execution for an indefinite period in 2008.
Sarabjit's family says he is the victim of mistaken identity and had inadvertently strayed across the border in a drunk state.
"This is not something that we can ignore. Naturally, this will have very very serious consequences. Whatever has happened, our jail authorities are responsible for that. Hope god saves Sarabjit Singh. He has been seriously hurt," Owais Sheikh, Sarabjit's lawyer said.
