A convicted Pakistani militant jailed in India died yesterday after being beaten by another inmate in an apparent revenge attack for the death of an Indian spy prisoner, threatening already fraught relations between the nations.
The death of Sanaullah Haq, also known as Sanaullah Ranjay, came a week after an Indian farmer convicted of spying died in a Pakistani jail, which led to furious reactions in India, with opposition parties criticizing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government of going soft on its western neighbor.
Sanaullah’s body will be handed over to Pakistan, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told Press Trust of India.
“Although it’s scant consolation I’d like to offer a sincere apology to the family of Sanaullah Haq & my sympathies for their loss,” Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir state where Haq had been imprisoned since 1999, wrote on Twitter yesterday.
Haq, 64, was badly beaten last week and was being treated for severe head injuries, in apparent revenge for the fatal attack on Sarabjit Singh, the convicted Indian spy who died in Pakistan following a similar attack.
Haq was convicted of a 1990s bomb attack that killed 10 people. Photos from jail show him sporting a long orange beard and a red coat, playing bagpipes for the prison band.
Delhi: Inmate’s body to be handed over to Islamabad
