New Delhi, May 2 (IANS) A special aircraft has left for Pakistan to bring back the body of India prisoner Sarabjit Singh who died in a Lahore hospital Thursday, an official said.
“Aircraft to bring back Sarabjit Singh’s body has left for Lahore at 3.46 p.m. We expect aircraft to reach there in about 45 minutes,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told reporters here.
“It is an Air India aircraft… Regarding its flight back, it will fly from Lahore to Amritsar and two officials of Indian High Commission will accompany the body,” he said.
He said that it is expected that aircraft will be received on arrival by Minister of State for External Affairs Preenet Kaur.
He said Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai has spoken to his Pakistani counterpart and everything possible is being done to get the body.
“At this stage our primary focus is to ensure his body is brought back as early as possible and given burial. If anything else is required at any other level there will not be any hesitation to ensure our goals are met,” he said.
On reports of Sarabjit Singh’s ventilator being taken off, Akbaruddin said: “All of us were trying to ensure that an India citizen’s life is saved and this issue was never raised with us.”
Sarabjit Singh, who was admitted to a Lahore hospital April 26 after being savagely attacked in jail, died early Thursday. He had suffered serious head injuries and had been on ventilator support since then.
He had been on a death row after being convicted by Pakistani courts for bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan that left 14 people dead.
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