March 21, 2008	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 12, 1429

KARACHI, March 20: An Indian fisherman who was arrested in 2006 died at the Malir district Jail hospital on Thursday.

Jail officials said Laxman Kanji, 40, was shifted to the medical facility within the jail in Landhi on March 12 after he complained of nausea and pain.

IG Prisons Yameen Khan told Dawn that the Indian fisherman died in the morning when he went to the lavatory. “He died due to his illness after remaining under treatment for a week in the jail hospital,” he added.

He said Kanji was the first-ever Indian national to die in a Pakistan jail.

As many as 430 Indian fishermen, arrested over the past few years for illegally fishing in Pakistani waters, are languishing in the Landhi Jail.He said a magistrate visited the jail and inspected the body under the jail rules to ascertain whether the body bore any mark of torture. “Then the body was transported to the JPMC for an autopsy,” he added.

Mr Khan said the body would be handed over to the Indian authorities after medico-legal formalities.

The prison chief said the man was in good health until a week ago. “All the Indian fishermen in the jail are safe and sound and being provided facilities as per the jail manual,” he added.

Sources at the JPMC said the body did not bear any mark of torture but the actual cause of his death could be established after the chemical examination report.