The killers of Sarabjit Singh in Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore said they killed him because they were already on death row and had nothing to lose.
“We have nothing to lose. We are already on death row. So we decided to avenge the bombings. We suspected the government might release him,” Mudassar, one of the killers, told the investigators.
Amir and Mudassar have been convicted for killing Malik Shaukat in Rawalpindi. A separate murder case has been filed against them for killing Sarabjit.
“We killed him because he was an evil. We have secured a place in jannah by ending him. This way the families of the victims of the bombings (carried out by Sarabjit Singh) will also have some peace,” Amir Tambaywala, another killer, told investigators.
When Kot Lakhpat Jail investigation in-charge Chaudhry Rehmat Ali asked them to explain why they had assaulted the Indian spy, Amir Tambaywala said, “How could Sarabjit get away with such bombings and killing people? I am proud of killing him.”
The killers have, however, not hinted about any support from outside to attack Sarabjit Singh.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has demanded action against all those who played any part in the assault on Sarabjit Singh, and called upon Islamabad and Delhi to take urgent measures to prevent the incident from undermining bilateral ties between the countries.
In a statement, the Commission said, “Not even the most naïve can believe that a prisoner like Sarabjit in a death cell inside a jail can be targeted in such a brutal assault by prisoners without the knowledge and support of prison guards and the authorities. This is far more serious a crime than allowing someone like General Pervez Musharraf to escape from court. It was no secret that Sarabjit faced more threats than other prisoners on account of the charge that he was convicted of and yet his security was so completely compromised.”
The HRCP pointed out that Sarabjit died when members of the joint Pak-India Judges Committee were visiting Pakistan in order to assess the conditions of detention of Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails.
Furthermore, the statement read, “Those elements in India who are no less vengeful, intolerant and fond of jingoism than their Pakistani counterparts would no doubt write their own script now.”
The HRCP showed concerned that Sarabjit Singh’s death might undermine the hard work done by both countries to normalise relations.
Pakistani media report said that India wants Pakistan to hold a high-level meticulous investigation into the allegations that the jail attack on Sarabjit Singh was plotted in advance by some Lashkar-e-Tayyaba-linked elements to avenge the hanging of LeT’s Ajmal Kasab and Jaish-e-Mohammad’s (JeM’s) Afzal Guru by the Indian government.
According to some highly informed diplomatic sources in Islamabad, the Indian authorities have not only lodged a strong protest with Pakistan over the killing of Sarabjit Singh in an unprecedented prison attack by inmates, they have further asked for a thorough probe into allegations that the assault was pre-planned by some LeT-linked fanatic prisoners at Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore who wanted to avenge the killing of Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru in India by assassinating him.
The sources say the Indian authorities are not ready to buy the Pakistani account that the assault was a spontaneous reaction by two jail inmates who had a brawl with Sarabjit Singh over a petty issue that finally turned bloody.
The Indian authorities suspect that there is certainly more than what meets the eye, keeping in view the brutality with which Sarabjit Singh was attacked on April 26 after the Friday prayers and attacked with iron rods, sharp metal sheets, blades and bricks, in a clear bid to kill him.
Sarabjit Singh’s Lahore-based Pakistani lawyer Awais Sheikh has also demanded a detailed investigation into his killing, adding that the entire episode seem to be a deep-rooted conspiracy by some non-state actors who were bent upon damaging the Indo-Pak relations.
Asked if Sarabjit Singh had ever expressed any threats to his life while he was behind bars, Awais Sheikh said, “Yes, during a recent jail meeting which was held in the presence of a CID official, Sarabjit told me that some jail inmates wanted to kill him. He also told me that the names of those who have threatened to kill him in prison were already in the knowledge of (Kot Lakhpat) Jail Superintendent. But it seems no remedial measures were taken to protect him”.
There are already reports in the Pakistani media stating that the attackers have confessed their crime and told their investigators that it was a revenge attack in response to India’s executing Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru.
The most intriguing aspect of the case is that Sarabjit Singh was attacked in the presence of two armed jail wardens Ehsanul Haq and Mohammed Safdar.
In Lahore, on Friday, the superintendent and two deputy superintendents of the Kot Lakhpat jail were suspended for their failure to provide security to Sarabjit Singh.
The three jail officials had earlier been issued a show cause notice. Inspector General Jails Farooq Nazeer said the notification of their suspension has been issued.
The notification also states that Kamran Anjum will assume the responsibilities of the superintendent and Raza Mehmood Zaman has been named as the additional superintendent. Hasan Bhagala has been appointed as the deputy superintendent.