Indian prisoner in Pak Kirpal Singh's body arrives, kin demands justice

Attari: The body of Indian prisoner Kirpal Singh, who died under mysterious circumstances in a Pakistani jail, arrived here on Tuesday in the presence of tearful family members and handed over to Indian authorities who said it would be given to them after a fresh postmortem.

Kirpal's family members, including his sister Jagir Kaur, Punjab Cabinet Minister Gulzar Singh Ranike and Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Varun Roojam, besides other senior officials, were present at the Joint check post at the Wagah border to receive the body. Dalbir Kaur, sister of another Indian Sarabjit Singh, who too had died in a Pakistani jail in May 2013, was also present.

An official posted at Attari border said the body would be handed over to the family for performing last rites after a postmortem examination, which is to be conducted at the "earliest".

Struggling to hold back her tears, Jagir said the family would perform Kirpal's last rites in Gurdaspur once his body was handed over to them. Kirpal Singh had allegedly crossed Wagah border into Pakistan in 1992 and was arrested.

He was subsequently sentenced to death in a serial bomb blasts case in Pakistan's Punjab province. Kirpal was found dead in his cell last Monday at Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore. A postmortem examination had been done in Pakistan.

Kirpal, from Gurdaspur, had reportedly been acquitted in the case by the Lahore High Court but his death sentence could not be commuted because of unknown reasons.