Islamabad, April 27 (IANS) Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry Saturday said that doctors are working hard to revive Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who remains unconscious on a ventilator after an attack in prison.
It said that the home department of Punjab and jail authorities are investigating the matter.
The ministry said it has also instructed its High Commission in New Delhi to facilitate provision of visas to family members of Sarabjit Singh who may wish to visit him during his hospitalization, a statement said. (Four visas have been granted to Sarabjit’s family members, who will be leaving for Lahore via the Attari checkpost on Sunday.)
“On hearing of the incident and in view of its humanitarian nature, the government of Pakistan provided timely consular access and permitted two officials of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to travel to Lahore and visit the prisoner late last (Friday) night,” it said.
The statement said the medical staff of the Jinnah Hospital, where he is getting treatment, as well as officials of the provincial government present there were forthcoming in providing all assistance to the Indian High Commission officials and updated them on the medical condition of Sarabjit Singh.
Giving a brief details of the incident, the foreign ministry said that Sarabjit suffered head injuries which rendered him unconscious as a result of a scuffle between prisoners at the Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore.
“He was immediately evacuated to Jinnah Hospital, Lahore, where he was provided emergency medical assistance.”
The statement said that the doctors and medical staff at the hospital are working around the clock to revive the prisoner who remains unconscious.
Sarabjit Singh, convicted for alleged involvement in a series of bomb attacks that killed 14 people in 1990, was in a death cell in Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore.
A group of Pakistani prisoners attacked him with bricks, tin and iron rods when he was walking in the premises of the prison, jail sources said.
