WAGAH/LAHORE: The dead body of Pakistani prisoner, Shakirullah, who was killed while serving time in an Indian jail, was handed over to Pakistan Rangers by Indian authorities at the Wagah-Attari border post on Saturday.
Shakirullah, who hailed from Sialkot, was stoned to death by other inmates in Rajasthan’s Jaipur Central Jail on February 20, 2019 after anti-Pakistan sentiment sparked in the wake of suicide attack in Pulwama district of Indian-administered Kashmir, which left more than 40 soldiers dead. India accused Pakistan of being involved in the attack, which Islamabad denied.
The body of the slain inmate was handed over a day after Pakistan released the captured Indian pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman as a "peace gesture" to de-escalate the rising tensions between the two South Asian neighbors.
On Friday, Shakirullah's brother, Shahzad Gulfam and his wife protested at the Wagah border demanding Pakistan not to release the Indian pilot until the body of their relative is returned to Pakistan.
“My brother was mentally unstable. He accidentally crossed over to India from Sialkot in 2001. He was reported missing as we never knew he was in India. For us, it was a shock on February 20 when we saw his picture on TV channels,” Gulfam told Arab News.
Rajashthan's inspector general of police (IG) and in-charge of prisons, Kapil Garg, confirmed the news of Shakirullah's murder on February 20 at the hands of his jail mates. Pakistan government lodged strong protest with India over the incident and demanded extra security be provided to Pakistanis in Indian jails.
“It is heart wrenching that we could not see our brother for the past so many years and just came to know that he was murdered in Indian jail. They should give us his body at least so we can see his face one last time,” Shakirullah's sister-in-law, Robina Shahzad said while breaking into tears.
“These are very sad moments in our lives. My brother is dead now but I am satisfied that we would bury him in our ancestral graveyard. We had sleepless nights thinking about our mentally challenged brother,” said Gulfam while crying.
