Sarabjit Singh to be treated in Pakistan, says panel

Zee Media Bureau

Lahore: A four-member panel of Pakistani medical experts, who were designated to decide whether Sarabjit Singh should be sent abroad for treatment, have decided not to shift him to any foreign country and continue his treatment here itself, reports said on Monday. The panel is supervising the treatment of Indian death row convict Sarabjit Singh, comatose in a Lahore hospital after a brutal assault. The panel headed by Mehmood Shaukat was directed by the government to decide whether Sarabjit, 49, should be sent abroad or foreign neurosurgeons should be called to Pakistan to treat him, Geo News channel had earlier reported. The administration of Jinnah Hospital, where Sarabjit has been in an intensive care unit since Friday received a formal order from the government in this regard, the report said. Sarabjit sustained several injuries, including a skull fraThe panel of experts examined Sarabjit again today and studied the results of tests done on him so far, including two CT scans. There was no official word on the development. Meanwhile, Union Home Secretary RPN Singh said that Sarabjit should be given proper medical treatment and India is ready to provide medical assistance to save his life. Sarabjit sustained several injuries, including a skull fracture, when six prisoners attacked him in Kot Lakhpat Jail on Friday and doctors said his chances of survival are slim. He was hit on the head with bricks and his neck and torso cut with sharp weapons. He is in a deep coma and doctors said yesterday that there had been no improvement in his condition. Sarabjit was convicted for alleged involvement in a string of bomb attacks in Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990. His mercy petitions were rejected by the courts and former President Pervez Musharraf. The outgoing Pakistan People`s Party-led government put off Sarabjit`s execution for an indefinite period in 2008. Sarabjit`s family says he is the victim of mistaken identity and had inadvertently strayed across the border in an inebriated state. cture, when six prisoners attacked him in Kot Lakhpat Jail on Friday and doctors said his chances of survival are slim. He was hit on the head with bricks and his neck and torso cut with sharp weapons. He is in a deep coma and doctors said yesterday that there had been no improvement in his condition. Sarabjit was convicted for alleged involvement in a string of bomb attacks in Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990. His mercy petitions were rejected by the courts and former President Pervez Musharraf. The outgoing Pakistan People`s Party-led government put off Sarabjit`s execution for an indefinite period in 2008. Sarabjit`s family says he is the victim of mistaken identity and had inadvertently strayed across the border in an inebriated state. PTI