A district president of DMDK, the main opposition party in Tamil Nadu assembly, was today arrested for allegedly threatening attendants at a toll gate with a pistol when they sought toll fee, the police said.

Sarabjit's body has reached his village Bhikiwind and has been taken for autopsy.

Asserting his commitment to close the terrorist detention center in Guantanamo, US President Barack Obama today said that the prison is a no-man's land that is not only "expensive" and "inefficient" but also hurts America in terms of its international standing.

In the backdrop of the fatal attack on Sarabjit Singh in a Lahore jail, Punjab government today tightened the security of Pakistani prisoners lodged in various jails of the state. 

Not a single home lit the kitchen fire in Bikhwind commiserating with the family of Sarabjit Singh, who died in a Pakistani hospital this morning. 

The special plane carrying the body of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh has landed in Amritsar.

Officials said the lack of some basic paperwork had delayed the plane's take-off from Lahore.

The Punjab government on Thursday announced an assistance of Rs 1 crore for the family of Sarabjit Singh, who died in Pakistan following a murderous assault in a jail there, and declared a three-day state mourning.

Flags will fly half mast on all government buildings and there will be no official ceremonial functions during this period, an official spokesman said in Chandigarh.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal aannounced a financial assistance of Rs 1 crore to Sarabjit's family.

The information and broadcasting ministry today cancelled a dinner to be hosted in New Delhi in honour of the National Film Award Winners following the death of Sarabjit Singh as a mark of respect to him.

In view of the anguish felt by the entire nation on the tragic and painful death of Sarabjit, Minister Manish Tewari decided to cancel the dinner as scheduled today, said officials.

In the aftermath of the death of Sarabjit Singh, India is seriously concerned about the safety of other 270 odd nationals lodged in Pakistani prisons and wants that country to ensure adequate safety for them as per international norms. Sarabjit's case was the second in recent months after another prisoner Chamel Singh met the same fate and India hopes "it is the last case".

However, India is at the moment not inclined to raise the issue at any international fora and wants to deal with it bilaterally. "It is a norm worldwide that security of prisoners is the responsibility of the state authorities," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said today.

Of all the moral precepts instilled in Buddhist monks the promise not to kill comes first, and the principle of non-violence is arguably more central to Buddhism than any other major religion. So why have monks been using hate speech against Muslims and joining mobs that have left dozens dead? Read

In other news: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI moving back to Vatican City; Will he hold sway over Pope Francis? Read

The Air India flight carrying Sarabjit Singh's body from Lahore to Amritsar will be delayed by at least 40 minutes since Pakistani authorities are yet to complete the paperwork. Expected time of arrival was around 7.30 pm today.

Sarabjit Singh's body is expected to reach Amritsar, India at around 7.30 pm. Another autopsy will be conducted at Amritsar after which the body will be taken to his village Bhikhiwind for a state funeral tomorrow.  


Pic: Pakistani hospital staff move the body of Sarabjit Singh, after an autopsy at the Jinnah Hospital in Lahore today.  Reuters/Mohsin Raza

Watch: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi addressing a India Inc at the Indian Merchants Chamber in Mumbai today. 

Times Now and Headlines Today report that Pakistan has created fresh hurdles to Sarabjit Singh's body being taken back to India. Customs officials say they want a No Objection Certificate before the body is flown back. MEA sources tell Times Now that basic paperwork has not been done at Lahore airport.

Watch: MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin's media briefing today on Sarabjit Singh's death.  

A former Indian spy, who had spent some time with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari behind the bars in a Pakistani jail, feels Sarabjit Singh may have been killed in an attack planned by the ISI.


"I don't have any doubt that the attack on Sarabjit was pre-planned and was the handiwork of ISI and jail officials though other people attacked him. Now, two prisoners are being made sacrificial goats," said Mehbood Elahi, who was Zardari's jailmate at the Karachi Central Jail for a few months between 1986-87 during the Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq regime.

Elahi claimed that in 1977 he was given a blank cheque by jail and ISI officials to assassinate a top Pakistani leader who was then in Lahore jail. "It is impossible for other prisoners to attack Sarabjit. I myself had been in Pakistani jails for 20 years. I know very well that Pakistani prisoners never attack Indian or Bangladeshi prisoners who are kept in separate cells," Elahi said.

Elahi, who claims to have crossed over to Pakistan in the '60s and '70s, was in jail in Pakistan from 1977-1996 on the charge of spying for India. "Death row convicts and convicts of foreign origin are always kept separately and handcuffed when taken out of their cells. So, how is it possible for them to attack someone?" said Elahi who returned to India in the late nineties after serving his sentence.

Family members of Sarabjit Singh have reached their hometown Bhikhiwind where his body will be brought to from Pakistan. Sarabjit's body will first be flown in a special Air India plane to Amritsar, where it will be kept in a hospital mortuary for further post-mortem tests.

The body will be released by the unidentified hospital on Friday morning and flown by helicopter to Bhikhiwind. The funeral rites are expected to take place around 2 pm on Friday, with full state honours. An ambulance carrying the body has reached Lahore's Allama Iqbal Airport, where some more formalities are being completed before it is sent into the Air India aircraft.

TV reports say his family has refurbished the ancestral home in the hope that Sarabjit would come home.

Sarabjit's family says they were hopeful he would come out of his coma as he had moved his hands and fluttered his eyes when they went to see him in hospital. His daughters were toddlers when Sarabjit was arrested in Pakistan. 

China today declined to give any timeline for withdrawal of its troops from Depsang valley in Ladakh but said the issue that has sparked new tensions in bilateral ties "will be properly resolved soon through negotiations".


"You raised a very specific question and I want to reiterate that Chinese troops carry out normal patrols on Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying told a media briefing.


She was replying to a question about how long the Chinese troops intend to stay put at the Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO), where they have pitched tents. "China and India are talking about the issue for a complete and appropriate settlement of the issue", she said referring to the current rounds of negotiations between the army officials as well as the new mechanism formed by both the countries last year to address specific issues relating to the border.

Asked whether China objected to any bunkers and trenches constructed by Indian troops, she said "China is firmly opposed to any action that crosses the LAC".

A senior government officer, who was dealing with Pakistan on sensitive and strategic issues, tells Sheela Bhatt that Pakistan never wanted Sarabit Singh to return to India and share all that he knew. He says the the killing of the Indian convict in a Lahore jail was a planned murder. Read

Sarabjit Singh's body en route to Lahore airport for Amritsar from where it will be taken to his village. His family has been flown to Amritsar. MoS External Affairs Preneet Kaur will be receive the body at Amritsar airport. He will be cremated tomorrow with full state honours, says DGP Punjab.  

India will not internationalise the Sarabjit Singh issue, says Syed Akbaruddin, the MEA spokesperson.

Meanwhile, Najam Sethi, the caretaker Chief Minister of Pakistan's Punjab province, assured Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sahbarwal that those responsible for the murder of Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh will be brought to justice.

A judicial inquiry will fix responsibility for the murder and action will be taken according to its findings, Sethi was quoted as saying by the officials.  Sethi said he hoped Sarabjit's murder will not affect relations between India and Pakistan. He said: "I believe in a peaceful relationship with India as people-to-people contacts will help improve relations between the two countries". 

"The responsibility for Sarabjit Singh's safety and security is the responsibility of Pakistan, since he was incarcerated in Pakistan. There are 215 Indian fishermen, and 55 Indian nationals in Pakistani jails according to reports in January, says Akbaruddin. This is India's first official briefing since Sarabjit's death.

"If Sarabjit had been guilty, we would not have asked Pakistan to release him. He is innocent," says the MEA spokesperson.  

External Affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin briefs the media on the Sarabjit Singh episode. He says a special Air India aircraft left at 3.46 pm for Lahore from Amritsar. The flying time to Lahore is 1 hour. No passengers on board except the crew. The flight will go from Lahore to Amritsar, where MoS external affairs Preneet Kaur will receive the body.

He says India was not consulted by Pakistan over taking Sarabjit Singh off life support.

Pakistan has handed over Sarabjit Singh's body to Indian officials in Lahore after an autopsy at the Jinnah Hospital there. This report will be released in three weeks. Another autopsy will be conducted on Sarabjit Singh in Amritsar.  

Pakistan's leading human rights activist Ansar Burney tweets his response to allegations made by Sarabjit Singh's sister that he asked her to pay Rs 25 crore to secure the release of her brother.

This is what Burney says: "I was shocked to hear nonsense and false accusation by Dalbeer Kaur, sister of Sarabjit Singh. I was the one who helped her every time. I  am very surprised rather shocked that she is politicizing the matter which was purely treated as matter of human rights by me.

"I feel a lot of pain by her false and slanderous allegations since I always tried to help her family and her brother on humanitarian grounds. How can I ask for any demand in lieu of her brother's release when I am not holding any ministry or authority to do so at present.

"How can I ask for any demand from a lady from whom even I have never asked for a cup of tea and for whose family I was helping on humanity.


"Is this the reward for me to help Dalbeer Kaur, her family and other Indian Prisoners on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. I am wondering about, there might be some hidden agenda or hidden forces behind all this.

In other news: Veteran former BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall has admitted 14 charges of indecently assaulting girls as young as nine years old. The 83-year-old pleaded guilty to the offences, involving 13 victims, which occurred between 1967 and 1985. A further three charges of indecent assault and one of rape have been left to lie on the court file.

Outside the court earlier Hall's lawyer said he wished to apologise to his victims. He added: "He is not a man easily moved to self pity but he is all too aware that his disgrace is complete."Hall admitted the offences last month but they could not be revealed due to reporting restrictions.-- BBC


Here's what the Daily Mail says. Read

At least 140 families of a highrise residential complex in south Mumbai, whose homes were set to be demolished, got some relief from the Supreme Court today, reports NDTV.

The top court stayed the demolition and gave the flat-owners five months to vacate. The Campa Cola Compound in posh Worli has been the scene of a massive protest since morning, with the civic authorities expected to start the demolition under heavy police presence.

Rediff.com's Prasanna Zore reporting from Worli, Mumbai this morning, said that  inside the gate of the Campa Cola compound, at least a 100 residents whose illegal flats are to be demolished, had been staging a dharna, chanting the Gayatri Mantra non-stop.

Hundreds of residents formed a human chain to block entry to the complex. The gates of the compound were shut and women squatted outside. School children too joined the protests.

In other stories: The mistaken notion that the 53 per cent of India's population 'dependent on agriculture' are all 'farmers' leads many to dismiss the massive farmers' suicides as trivial. That's P Sainath for the Hindu. Read

While on Pakistan, read the BBC on the upcoming polls. Pakistan can be an unpredictable place. But in a chequered history that has kept lurching from crises to coups, one event has kept coming back, with reassuring certainty - elections. Read

"Out of the four Prime Ministers who have served for five years or more, Dr. Manmohan Singh has been in office for nine years now. If the Lok Sabha polls take place as scheduled, that is in 2014, he would have completed ten years as Prime Minister.


For a person outside the Nehru family that would indeed be a unique distinction. But an even more unique, though dubious distinction would be that in free India's political history, he would be the only Prime Minster to occupy this exalted office without ever being elected to the Lok Sabha!   Also, I cannot forget that when in 2009, I had described Dr. Singh as the weakest Prime Minister the country has had some of my own colleagues felt that I was being too severe. But I still hold that it is this attribute of his '" weakness - that makes him so subservient to 10, Janpath, and thus unable to avail of the authority innate in this office of Prime Ministership."
-- LK Advani.

Read the blog

On Sunday, January 6th, 2013, Pakistani troops attacked an Indian patrol near Churunda along the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir, killing two soldiers and mutilating their bodies. In this case study, Nitin Gokhale, security & strategic affairs editor of NDTV, presents the events as they unfolded in the first two weeks of January 2013.This case involves international relations, national security, defence and foreign policies and the role of media during crises and controversies. Read

Pakistan to hand over Sarabjit Singh's body to the Indian high commission at 3 pm Pakistan time, 3.30 pm IST. Indian officials will reach Jinnah Hospital where the the body has been kept in a mortuary, at 2.30 pm. The body will be flown back to India in a special plane sent by the government.

BJP President Rajnath Singh says India should recall its envoy to Pakistan and scale down diplomatic relations, demands .

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said, "Today is a day of sadness, regret and anguish" in view of the way Sarabjit Singh was killed in Pakistan.

"I am sure the whole Parliament will raise its voice unanimously. The issue was lingering for long and we express our condolences with the family," he said.

The BJP leader used the issue to target the government, questioning as to which way India's foreign policy headed. "It is a sample of how our tottering government has turned coward," he said.

Jaitley said Pakistan has lost several battles with India and this is an alternative to execution of death sentence that Pakistan has found. "Even birds cannot venture or fly near the prison cell as prisoners are kept in seclusion," he said.

"A prisoner cannot be attacked like that and Pakistan's claim that this is an act of non-state actors cannot be believed as it seems that Sarabjit was thrown before wolves," Jaitley said.

He insisted that this could not have happened "without the total involvement of Pakistan government and police forces". He asked the government to do some introspection of its foreign policy. 

The 'Free Sarabjit Singh Campaign' that was launched in hope Pakistan would release him. See

Vinay Pande on Twitter:‏ Neither government nor judiciary; after a long wait of 23 years Death brought him back to his country. his soil.

Parliament today expressed shock at the death of Sarabjit Singh and condemned the "inhuman treatment" meted out to him in a Pakistan jail where he was brutally assaulted last week. The issue resonated in both Houses, with Lok Sabha passing a resolution after two adjournments forced after members created an uproar and shouted anti-Pakistan slogans.


"This House expresses its deep sense of shock and sorrow on the sad demise of Sarabjit Singh, an Indian citizen in Jinnah Hospital, Lahore in Pakistan today after he was brutally assaulted by his fellow inmates in a Pakistan jail," said the resolution moved by Speaker Meira Kumar.


"This House condemns the inhuman treatment meted out to Sarabjit Singh in Pakistan jail and hopes that the culprits will be brought to book," said the resolution.


The House mourned the demise with members standing in silence for a while as a mark of respect to Sarabjit. The issue was raised as soon as the House assembled for the day, with BJP members storming the Well raising anti-Pakistan slogans in protest against Sarabjit's death.


"Pakistan down down," they chanted. Shahnawaz Hussain (BJP) was heard questioning as to why the House was not condemning Pakistan. The House witnessed two more adjournments on the issue as well as some other matters. As the House met again at noon, the Speaker moved the resolution. Rajya Sabha also saw members protesting the death of Sarabjit and condemning the murderous assault.

The government of Pakistan's Punjab province orders a judicial inquiry into Sarabjit Singh's death.

Home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on the possibility of the government declaring Sarabjit as a martyr, as demanded by his family, the Home Minister said it was not right time to talk on the issue.

Advocate Awais Sheikh, the lawyer for Sarabjit Singh, on why he believes his client's conviction and imprisonment is "an extraordinary miscarriage of justice". Read

Shiv Aroor tweets: Special planes are never sent for the poor. Only their bodies. And only to contain perceptional damage

Dalbir Kaur, sister of Sarabjit Singh lashed out at Pakistan for her brother's death and called for a war against the country.  Chanting "Pakistan Murdabad", Kaur said she was appealing to all parties to come together to give Pakistan an ''appropriate answer''. "I appeal to all political parties to come together and support Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. Earlier, Pakistan stabbed Vajpayee's (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) back and today they have stabbed Manmohan Singh. It's time to wage a war against Pakistan", she said. 

The death of Sarabjit Singh in Pakistan has sparked anger in India as people denounced Islamabad of ''hatching a conspiracy to kill him''.

Head of Sri Akaal Takhat, the supreme religious body of Sikhs in India, Gurbachan Singh said Sarabjit's death as unfortunate."

"The Pakistan government did not pay heed to the repeated calls made by the Indian government and people. They have killed him by orchestrating an attack on him instead of hanging him," said Singh.

Harcharan Bains, the former media advisor to Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal said, "We want his body to be brought here and we will give him a funeral befitting his stature and befitting the national sentiment," he said. 

Rediff.com's Prasanna Zore reporting from Worli, Mumbai says inside the gate of the Campa Cola compound, at least a 100 residents whose illegal flats are to be demolished, are staging a dharna, chanting the Gayatri Mantra non-stop. The Supreme Court judgment on the issue is expected at 2 pm. The buildings in the Campa Cola compound were erected in the 1980s, and have not received OCs, with the BMC alleging FSI violations since then. According to the civic body, the threat of eviction to legal occupants remains even if the height of each building is brought to a level of five floors post demolition.

The Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) in a communication on Thursday urged the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Prof. Juan Mandez and UN Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial Executions, Prof. Christop Heyns to intervene with the Government of Pakistan to ensure a credible inquiry for establishing justice into the murder of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh in the custody of the Government of Pakistan.

Since Mr. Sarabjit Singh was in the custody of the Government of Pakistan, the responsibility to ensure his personal safety and security irrespective of his status as a convict was with the Government of Pakistan," said Suhas Chakma, Director of Asian Centre for Human Rights.

The Lok Sabha observed a minute's silence to mark the death of Sarabjit Singh. Death ensures attention for a man who had been languishing in a Pakistan jail for around 22 years, with his family demanding justice and intervention by the Indian government to get him back home. 

Home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said India had raised the issue of Sarabjit with Pakistan in different for a and added that he had himself raised the issue of Sarabjit's release when Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik visited India last year.
 
Sarabjit had been admitted to the intensive care unit of the government-run Jinnah Hospital in Lahore, where four of his family members - his sister, wife and two daughters - had visited him.
 
They returned to India yesterday, and roundly condemned the Indian Government for not taking up their cause in right earnest.

Rahul Gandhi is escorting Sarabjit's family to the Delhi airport to board a plane for Lahore to bring back Sarabjit Singh's body. The MEA has sent a special plane to get his body back. He will be cremated tomorrow.

Pic: Sarabjit Singh's wife and two daughters in this 1995 picture./Reuters

Rediff.com's Prasanna Zore reporting from Worli, Mumbai, says BMC officials are outside the Campa Cola compound in Worli, to begin the demolition process. The first line of defence standing outside the gates are the maids who work in these buildings, even as residents are on a hunger strike, holding placards and clinging on to the hope that they can still save their houses.  

Meanwhile, Sikhs have been protesting outside Sonia Gandhi's residence over the acquittal of Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 riots against the Sikhs following the assassination of then PM Indira Gandhi.  

MEA says Pakistan did NOT consult them on removing Sarabjit from life support. Pakistan says it had informed the Indian high commission before taking Sarabjit off life support. 

A pall of gloom today descended on Sarabjit Singh's native Bhikhiwind village as soon as the news of his death in a Lahore hospital spread with villagers closing all shops to protest the deadly attack on him.

Locals of the sleepy border village started to throng Singh's house as soon as they got the news about his death.

However, Singh's family member are camping in Delhi since yesterday and are expected to reach Amritsar by evening.

Villagers downed all business establishments in the area to protest the brutal attack on Singh by inmates in a Lahore jail.

Singh died of cardiac arrest in a Lahore hospital in the wee hours today after being comatose for nearly a week following the assault by fellow inmates in a high-security Pakistani jail.

Sarabjit's wife Sukhpreet Kaur, daughters Poonam and Swapandeep Kaur and sister Dalbir Kaur, who went to Lahore on Tuesday to see him, returned to India yesterday. 

The Ministry of External Affairs says it heard of Sarabjit Singh's death on TV and was informed only later. Sarabjit was attacked on April 26 and died at 1.30 am today. Sarabjit's kin want funeral to be held at their ancestral home. The MEA is expected to brief the media at 3.15 pm today.

Pakistan foreign secretary admits jail staff were not vigilant, and that "there were lapses." 

Meanwhile, the Pakistani police today slapped murder charges against two death row prisoners who were booked for the brutal assault on fellow-inmate Sarabjit Singh, causing injuries which led to his death.

The Lahore Police added murder charges to the FIR registered against death row prisoners Amer Aftab alias Amer Tambewala and Mudassar who were booked for the attack on 49-year-old Sarabjit on Friday last week.

Officials at Kot Lakhpat police station confirmed that they had added Section 302 (murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code against Aftab and Mudassar after the death of Sarabjit. Police investigators are yet to complete their probe into the attack.

They recorded the statements of both accused but are yet to submit a 'challan' or chargesheet against them in court. They have also failed to trace the weapons used in the assault.

Cabinet secretary Ajit Seth says India is ready to bring back Sarabjit Singh's body in a special aircraft.

Sarabjit Singh's family says they got to know of his death from the Pakistan media and only when they called up the Indian high commission in Pakistan was it confirmed. "Nobody in India bothered to inform us," says Dalbir Kaur, Sarabjit's sister who has spearheaded the campaign to get Sarabjit released from jail. 

Back to the Sarabjit Singh story: His body will be returned to India after the autopsy, which is expected to be conducted after 10 am, Pakistan time. The 49-year-old Indian prisoner died at the Jinnah Hospital in Lahore after he was brutally attacked by inmates at Pakistan's Kot Lakhpat jail last week and slipped into an irreversible coma thereafter. He passed away at 1.30 am IST. The Pakistan foreign office puts his death down to a 'cardiac arrest'.

If you're in Delhi, heads up: Mansingh Road, Akbar Road, Motilalal Nehru Marg, Krishna Menon Marg and Janpath Road has been closed due to protests against Sajjan Singh's acquittal in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. Check  www.traffline.com for more updates.

Rahul Gandhi has met Sarabjit Singh's family in Delhi, which he did not bother to do, when he was alive. Earlier in the day, home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said Sarabjit's was a case of mistaken identity.

Calling Pakistan a coward state, Sarabjit's sister says she will now fight for other Indian prisoners in Pakistan jails. "I will fight for other Sarabjits in Pak jails," says Dalbir Kaur. 

Here is the full text of the statement released by the Pakistan foreign office on Sarabjit Singh's death.

"Indian prisoner, Sarabjit Singh who was hospitalized on Friday April 26, following injuries sustained during a scuffle with fellow inmates, expired early this morning at Jinnah Hospital, Lahore.

"The prisoner, who had been in a comatose state and on a ventilator for the last few days, was being provided the best treatment available and the medical staff at Jinnah Hospital had been working round the clock since his hospitalization to save his life.

"However, despite their best efforts, they could not save him and Sarabjit Singh passed away due to cardiac arrest.

"The Government of Pakistan, which had been providing all assistance to the family of Sarabjit Singh as well as to the Indian authorities since the occurrence of this unfortunate incident, will continue to facilitate for the early completion of all formalities and hand over the mortal remains of the prisoner to the Indian High Commission at the earliest possible.

Islamabad 2 May 2013

On Twitter: Gunjan Chakrabarty: All the Ministers proclaiming that they are with the family of Sarabjit Singh my humble question where were they exactly a few days ago.

Sarabjit Singh's sister Dalbir Kaur says, Ansar Burney, the Pakistan human rights activist had asked for Rs 25 crore to get her brother released from jail.  

Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal says Sarabjit Singh's daughters.

Meanwhile, Sarabjit Singh's sister Dalbir Kaur addressing a press conference says allegations were levelled against Sarabjit because he is an Indian. Pakistan has hidden facts from us. Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari had Sarabjit killed ahead of the Pakistan elections.

Pakistan now says it will hand over Sarabjit Singh's body to India after "early completion of all formalities", that's the statement released by the Pakistan Foreign Office.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has condoled the death of Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who died in a Pakistani hospital after being comatose for nearly a week following a brutal assault by other inmates of a high-security jail, and said the truth about his must come out.

"Both, the Government of India & Government of Pakistan have misled people on Sarabjit Singh issue. The truth on this issue must come out," Modi tweeted.

"Sarabjit''s extra-judicial killing is yet another grim reminder that expecting Pakistan to follow due process of law in any sphere is futile," he further tweeted.

This is what former Pakistan foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar, said on Sarabjit Singh's death: "If it was the PPP government, we would have moved very quickly and even before a request could come forth we would have made arrangements to fly Mr Singh out to a place of the family's choosing, simply on humanitarian grounds.

Let's get a life, Singh is a human being and it does not matter that he is an Indian. I would have put all legalities aside and ordered my foreign secretary to release and fly out Mr Singh. After all Pakistan is not responsible to what happened to him but we could help under the circumstances'."

Sarabjit Singh dies in Pakistan hospital

15 JPC members reject 2G report in writing