Zee Media Bureau
Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday requested India to return the body of prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay, who died in a hospital in Chandigarh after being attacked in a Jammu jail last week.
Ranjay, who was extremely critical for the last few days and had suffered renal failure on Wednesday, died just before 8 am on Thursday at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh.
Pakistan has further demanded an impartial international probe into the incident, which is expected to shake the already tense ties between the South Asian neighbours.
"We have requested the government of India for an international inquiry into the brutal attack on the Pakistani citizen. We request the government of India to immediately give his body to his family members so the funeral can take place according to Islamic rituals," Manzoor Ali Memon, one of the three Pakistani diplomats granted consular access to the prisoner, told a TV channel.
"We are in deep grief and we are shocked. We express our deep condolences to Sanaullah`s family and people of Pakistan for the brutal and extrajudicial killing of the innocent citizen of Pakistan. The killing has taken place under the nose of Jammu and Kashmir jail authorities," Memon said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan`s Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said: "The brutal manner in which Sanaullah was attacked in the jail is most unfortunate and a matter of deep concern for the Government of Pakistan".
He also noted that Pakistan`s caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso had called on the Indian government to "ensure the safety and security of all Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails".
"We also reiterate our call to the Government of India to hold focused discussions on the conditions of Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails and repatriate those who have already completed their sentences as per the Consular Access Agreement between Pakistan and India," he said.
The Pakistani was in deep coma ever since he was flown in here from Jammu last Friday. He was serving life imprisonment at Jammu`s Kot Bhalwal Jail.
He was attacked last Friday by an Indian prisoner and then flown from Jammu to Chandigarh for treatment.
"There is a need for agreement of security and safety of prisoners in jail," Memon told a news channel here.
Ranjay had developed jaundice and other internal infections on Tuesday, doctors said.
The attack on Ranjay took place a day after Sarabjit Singh, an Indian prisoner in Pakistan, succumbed to grievous injuries following a murderous assault in Lahore`s Kot Lakhpat Jail.
(With Agencies inputs)
