Sarabjit attacked: Chamel Singh's family blames Centre

Jammu: Family of Chamel Singh, an Indian prisoner who died in a Pakistani jail three months ago, on Saturday blamed the Centre for the attack on Sarabjit Singh, saying had the government taken a tough stand at that time such an incident would not have recurred. "We want the Indian government to see the conspiracy in attacks on Indian prisoners - we should safeguard the lives of Indian prisoners in Pakistan," deceased Chamel's son Deepak told PTI over phone from his border hamlet of Pargwal, 60 kms from Jammu.

"I blame the Centre for the attack on Sarabjit and his critical condition. Had they taken a tough stand after the death of my father this act would not have been repeated," he said. Deepak said, "We are yet to get the autopsy report of my father from Pakistan. Only after getting the report we would know the reason of his death.

"Unfortunate incident of attack on Sarabjit in Pakistani jail has shocked us. We can well understand the pain and the suffering his family would be going through," said Kamlesh Devi, wife of Chamel. Chamel had died in mysterious conditions in a Pakistani jail on January 15. However, the autopsy was conducted on March 13 in Lahore.

Chamel, a resident of Pargwal in JK, was arrested and convicted for espionage in Pakistan in 2008. His family contended he was not involved in spying and had gone missing from his fields on the border with Pakistan in July 2008. There was, however, no explanation why the Pakistan authorities took almost two months to conduct the autopsy.

His body was brought back to Jammu from Pakistan in March. Chamel was about to complete his five-year prison term for alleged involvement in espionage. Reports said that he was "mercilessly beaten" by Pakistani prison staff before his death.

Despite repeated reminders, India is still awaiting the post mortem report of Chamel. "We have been following the case of the unfortunate death of an Indian prisoner in Pakistan and this has been going on for quite some time. For more than two months now. We have repeatedly requested the Pakistanis authorities for a post mortem report.The report has not been provided to us as yet," said Syed Akbaruddin, official spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs, had said on April 13 in New Delhi.