ISLAMABAD, Aug 20: The Indian government has called for immediate release of 450 Indian prisoners languishing in different jails of Pakistan. A request through diplomatic channels has already been made to Pakistan for release of these prisoners, Indian deputy high commissioner in Islamabad T.C.A. Raghawan told Dawn.

Asked as to what were the charges against these prisoners, Mr Raghawan said whatever the charges these Indians had completed their terms of sentence and therefore there was no justification to keep them behind bars.

About the Tihar jail episode, he said no formal request had been received from Islamabad for the release of Ms Najma Parveen and her five children and Ms Ruby and her child.

The diplomat said their release was being delayed apparently because Pakistani authorities were still in the process of verifying their national status. He expressed surprise over the Pakistani procedure of checking national status of detainees in other countries’ jails.

When contacted, Foreign Office spokesman Naeem Khan said the national status of 177 Pakistanis had been checked and a request for their release had been made to India. However, he added, these Pakistanis were still languishing in Indian jails. These prisoners included 139 civilians and 38 fishermen, he said and added that there were 200 more detainees in Indian jails whose national status was to be checked.

The spokesman said Pakistan had unilaterally released 589 Indian nationals in March on humanitarian grounds, which was followed by the release of 180 Pakistanis by New Delhi.

He said India had not yet provided consular access to Pakistan to enable the staff of its high commission in New Delhi to meet Mr Hashmi and his wife. The couple and their three children were arrested at Agra.

About the procedure to check national status of Pakistanis in other countries’ jails, Mr Khan said the foreign office sent their particulars to the interior ministry which forwarded the same to the concerned province. He said the information on their status reached back to the foreign office through the same channel. He said efforts were under way to make the system more efficient.