The main accused in the attack on Indian spy Sarabjit Singh in Kot Lakhpat Jail have told investigators that they wanted to kill him to take revenge for bombings he carried out in Lahore.
According to a preliminary report prepared by Deputy Inspector General of Police (Prisons) Malik Mubashir, the accused – Amer Aftab and Mudassar, both death row prisoners – said they hated Sarabjit because he killed many Pakistanis in bombings in Lahore in 1990.
Mubashir has submitted the report to the Punjab Home Department, official sources told PTI.
For the attack on 49-year-old Sarabjit, the duo said they sharpened spoons to use as knives, made blades from pieces of empty ghee tin and collected bricks.
The moment they got an opportunity, they executed their plan “with ease”, the accused were quoted as saying in the report.
Sarabjit is on a ventilator in Jinnah Hospital. Doctors have been working to revive him since he was attacked on Friday.
His skull was fractured and he sustained injuries to his face, neck and torso during the assault.
Given the seriousness of Sarabjit’s medical condition, two officials from Indian High Commission sought further access to him which was denied by the Pakistani authorities, sources said.
Aftab and Mudassar, however, could not offer satisfactory answers as to why they started hating Sarabjit and planned his murder only in the recent past though both had been held in the jail for several years.
Mudassar and Aftab have been in the prison since 2005 and 2009, respectively.
Separately, Sarabjit’s lawyer said that his client had received threats following the execution of Afzal Guru, who was hanged in New Delhi on February 9.
Indian government officials in New Delhi claimed that Pakistan had denied consular access to Sarabjit. “Officials from the Indian High Commission in Pakistan were not allowed to visit Sarabjit on Sunday. The authorities have also refused to share his medical updates with the Indian officials,” said a senior Indian official, speaking under the condition of anonymity.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry was not immediately available for comment.