Sarabjits family meets him in Kot Lakhpat Jail

Indian prisoner in Pakistan Sarabjit Singhs family met him at Lahores Kot Lakhpat Jail today.

Islamabad, Apr 24 : Indian prisoner in Pakistan Sarabjit Singh's family met him at Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail today.

Sarabjit's daughters Swapandeep and Poonam, his wife Sukhpreet Kaur, his sister Dalbir Kaur and her husband Baldev Singh entered Pakistan via the Wagah border on Wednesday afternoon.

The family, that got the visa after many tribulations, is expected to raise Sarabjit's case with the Pakistani authorities.

"The issue of Sarabjit Singh is under active consideration by the Pakistan government," foreign office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told reporters today when asked if the Indian national, sentenced to death for alleged involvement in the 1990 blasts in Punjab province, would be hanged.

He said, "We have received a request from the Indian government. A decision will be taken in due course."

Earlier in the day, Pakistan President`s office said that no mercy petition for the condemned Indian national was pending with it.Sarabjit Singh had recently sent a special request to authorities in Islamabad to be allowed to meet his younger daughter Poonam whom he has never seen. His older daughter was two-and-a-half years old and the younger one was 23 days old when Sarabjit had accidentally crossed into Pakistan in 1990. arabjit is languishing in Pakistani jails for the last 18 years.

Sarabjit, who Pakistan claims is Manjit Singh, was sentenced to death in 1991 for his alleged involvement in four bomb blasts that killed 14 people.

His family denies he is a spy as claimed by Pakistan and insists that he accidentally strayed into Pakistani territory. His execution was deferred for 30 days by President Pervez Musharraf last month so that Pakistan's new government could review his case following an appeal for clemency from India.

Sarabjit has repeatedly reiterated that his was a case of mistaken identity and that he had not committed the crimes he was convicted for.

The Indian High Commission in Pakistan also insists that he is Sarabjit and not Manjit as claimed by the Pakistan Government.

Incidentally, the newly elected Pakistan Government has also been favouring the Sarabjit's case. They had in fact asked for commuting of all death sentences to life imprisonment.

Sarabjit was to be hanged on April 1, but was put off till April 30 after India had appealed to the Pakistan Government for clemency.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had made last week a fresh appeal to Islamabad to grant clemency to Sarabjit on humanitarian grounds. There has been no official response from Islamabad to Mukherjee's appeal. Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani had also sought clemency for Sarabjit.

Sarabjit has been on death row since the Pakistan's Supreme Court rejected his mercy petition in March 2006.

ANI