Kot Lakpat jail staff suspended over Sarabjit’s killing

The superintendent and two deputy superintendents of Kot Lakhpat Jail were suspended on Friday for failing to prevent the attack on Sarabjit Singh.

The three jail officials were previously issued show cause notices, and Punjab Inspector General of Prisons Farooq Nazeer has termed their suspension to be official.

According to the notification, Kamran Anjum will assume the responsibilities of the superintendent, Raza Mahmood Zaman has been appointed as an additional superintendent, while Hasan Bhagala will assume the charge of a deputy superintendent.

Sarabjit Singh was a convicted Indian spy on a death-row. He was attacked on April 26, and died of cardiac arrest on Thursday after being comatosed for nearly a week due to severe injuries.

Earlier, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) had urged the governments of India and Pakistan to save their ties given the tension between the two countries on account of treatment being meted out to the prisoners.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the HRCP said, “Not even the most naïve can believe that a prisoner like Sarabjit in a death cell inside a jail can be targeted in such a brutal assault by prisoners without the knowledge and support of prison guards and the authorities. This is far more serious a crime than allowing someone like General Pervez Musharraf to escape from court. It was no secret that Sarabjit faced more threats than other prisoners on account of the charge that he was convicted of and yet his security was so completely compromised.”

According to the India Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Syed Akbaruddin, there are 535 Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails and 272 Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails. He said India had issued an advisory to strengthen security for Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails. He said India was proposing a meeting of officials in both countries to ”identify and put in place further measures to avoid such tragic incidents in future.”