Pakistani prisoner attacked in Indian jail dies: hospital official

Published May 9, 2013
Sanaullah Haq, who was serving a life term, plays a bagpipe during a routine practice inside Kotbhalwal central jail in Jammu in this May 20, 2011. — File photo
Sanaullah Haq, who was serving a life term, plays a bagpipe during a routine practice inside Kotbhalwal central jail in Jammu in this May 20, 2011. — File photo

NEW DELHI: Sanaullah Haq, the Pakistani prisoner who was attacked in an India prison in Jammu last week, died in the Chandigarh Hospital on Thursday, DawnNews reported.

Doctors treating Sanaullah Ranjay at a government hospital in Chandigarh said the 52-year-old died of multiple organ failure after suffering severe head injuries in last week's attack at a prison in the northern city of Jammu.

The hospital would hand over the body to two of his relatives who had arrived in India on Tuesday “as per the instructions of the government”, the doctor added.

The chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim majority state, announced that an inquiry would be held into the May 3 attack on Ranjay, calling it a “matter of deep regret”.

But Pakistani officials said they would not be satisfied by an Indian inquiry into the “extra-judicial killing”, calling instead for an international-level investigation.

In a statement, the hospital said Ranjay had been declared dead at around 7:00am.

“He had multiple organ failure due to severe head injury. The team of doctors headed by Prof Y.K.Batra tried their best to revive him,” it said.

One of his doctors told AFP on condition of anonymity that Ranjay had died after suffering renal failure on Wednesday night.

A spokesman for the Pakistan High Commission said that the Indian government had been asked to immediately release and repatriate the body.

“We are in a shock and deep grief over this barbaric act,” the spokesman Manzoor Ali Memon told AFP.

“This is an extra-judicial killing of an innocent citizen of Pakistan right under the noses of the Indian jail authorities.

“We have demanded an inquiry of international level to find out the culprits and expose the connivance.”

The Pakistani foreign ministry said that the “brutal” attack was “a matter of deep concern” to the government in Islamabad.

“We have conveyed our concern to the government of India in this regard and demanded that an investigation into the incident be held and perpetrators of this heinous crime be brought to justice,” it said in a statement.

“The prime minister of Pakistan has also called upon the government of India to ensure the safety and security of all Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails,” it added.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah promised that those responsible for Ranjay's death would be held accountable.

“While the inquiry will fix responsibility for any dereliction of duty, the fact that this happening at all is a matter of great regret,” he wrote on Twitter.

Earlier, Doctors at PGI Chandigarh issued the report over the condition of Sanaullah Haq according to which the attacked prisoner was in a brain-dead state.

Sanaullah, who was convicted by an Indian court for involvement in separatist activities in the disputed Kashmir region, was attacked in an Indian prison by a court-martialled Indian soldier in retaliation to a similar incident in a Pakistani jail where some prisoners attacked Sarabjit Singh, who was a deathrow inmate in Pakistan convicted for terrorism charges related to a bombing in Faisalabad that had killed 14 people in 1990.

Moreover, the two family members of Sanaullah, had reached India on Tuesday after being granted permission from Indian officials.

The two family members were arrived in Chandigarh via the Wagah-Attari border, according to a statement by the Pakistan High Commission. His two teenage sons were not able to receive visas because they both don't have ID cards.

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