Time Scale: Pakistan to hand over Sarabjit's body to family

NEW DELHI:

NEW DELHI: 11.00 am: Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde who met the family of the Indian prisoner informed the media and assured them of getting back his body to India.

He said, "We are making efforts so that his body is handed over to us as soon as possible. Our foreign ministry is holding talks with the Pakistan government. And once the body comes its funeral will be conducted as per the wishes of his family."

Pakistan back-stabbed us again: Sarabjit's sister

10.40 am: Blaming the Pakistan government for Sarabjit's death, Dalbir said, "Zardari killed Sarabjit ahead of the general elections in the country. Pakistan is a coward. They murdered Sarabjit."

10.30 am: Sarabjit Singh's sister Dalbir Kaur in an emotional address to the media said that she always doubted Pakistan's honesty and the jail authorities always kept the family in the dark. Calling Sarabjit a martyr, Dalbir said the Indian prisoner was tortured in the Pakistani jail. "First they back-stabbed Vajpayee and now they fooled Manmohan Singh. I appeal the entire nation to unite against Pakistan," said Dalbir.

Sarabjit's death a setback to Ind-Pak ties: Khurshid

10.20 am: Union external affairs minister Salman Khurshid expressed shock over Sarabjit's death, saying the Indian prisoner's death is a setback to the Indo-Pak ties. He said, "Sarabjit's death is a terrible, psychological, emotional setback to the Indo-Pak ties."

"Pakistan to hand over Sarabjit's body to family: Reports

10.10 am: Media reports say that Pakistan has agreed to hand overSarabjit Singh's body to his family.

Sharat Sabharwal, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, would be meeting the chief minister of Pakistan's Punjab province shortly to work out the modalities of bringing back Sarabjit's body, which may be flown back in a helicopter.

10.00 am: Calling Sarabjit's death as a 'cold blooded murder', the leader of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sushma Swarajslammed Pakistan.

"It is a cold blooded murder. This is not the way civilized nations behave. #Sarabjit Singh," Sushma Swaraj tweeted.

9.55 pm: The security of the Pakistani prisoners has been tightened in the Indian jails following Sarabjit's death.

9.50 pm: MEA however denied the report that it was consulted by Pakistan authorities on taking off the ventilator.

9.45 pm: Pakistan media reports that the decision to take Sarabjit off ventilator after consulting with the Indian High Commission.

9.40 pm: Pak Foreign Secretary accepted that 'there were lapses by jail authorities' but refused to accept that the death of the Indian prisoner was 'a conspiracy'.

9.30 am: The Indian external affairs ministry strongly condemned Pakistan over Sarabjit's death. Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin tweeted, "#India: Sarabjit's death is, put simply, the killing of our citizen while in the custody of #Pakistan jail authorities."

9.20 am: Pakistan media reports that a medical team will be formed to conduct the postmortem examination of Sarabjit.

Brave son of India: PM

9.15 am: Describing Sarabjit as the 'brave son of India', Singh said the entire nation shared his family's grief.

Full text of PM: "I am deeply saddened by the passing away of Sarabjit Singh. He was a brave son of India who bore his tribulations with valiant fortitude. The criminals responsible for the barbaric and murderous attack on him must be brought to justice. It is particularly regrettable that the government of Pakistan did not heed the pleas of the government of India, Sarabjit's family and of civil society in India and Pakistan to take a humanitarian view of this case. May his soul be granted the peace that he could not enjoy in life. Government will make the arrangements to bring his remains home and for his last rites to be conducted in consultation with his family. The nation shares their profound grief with them."

Regret Pakistan's inaction: PM

9 pm: Expressing regret over Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh's death in Pakistan, the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh appealed to Pakistan to punish the killers of the Indian prisoner.

8.15 am: Sarabjit's family first learnt of his death in a Lahore hospital through a media report. Dalbir Kaur, sister of Sarabjit Singh, told Geo TV that the family had not yet been officially informed about his death at Jinnah Hospital, Lahore.

8 am: The family of the Indian prisoner said that he should be given the stature of a "shahid" or, martyr.

1.15 am: Sarabjit Singh declared dead in Lahore hospital.

Indian prisoner in Pakistan Sarabjit Singh died in a Lahore hospital on Thursday morning, succumbing to severe injuries caused by an assault by jail inmates on April 26.

The head of the medical panel of the hospital was quoted as saying that Sarabjit succumbed to injuries at 12.45 a.m. (Pakistan time) or (1.15 a.m. Indian standard time).

Sarabjit's lawyer Awais Shiekh told an Indian news channel that Sarabjit's death was confirmed by hospital authorities.

Sarabjit had suffered serious head injuries after being attacked by two prisoners at Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail April 26. He was on ventilator support since then. (With inputs from agencies)