Sarabjit Singh Sarabjit Singh ( also spelled Sarabjeet Singh ; ; 1963 or 1964 – 2 May 2013 ) ( alleged to be ' Manjit Singh ' by Pakistan ) was an Indian national convicted of terrorism and spying by a Pakistani court . He was tried and convicted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan for a series of bomb attacks in Lahore and Faisalabad that killed 14 bystanders in 1990 . While imprisoned , Sarabjit claimed he was a farmer who strayed into Pakistan from his village located on the border , three months after the bombings . According to unconfirmed sources Singh had been a spy for the Research and Analysis Wing who had been working undercover in Pakistan . After a brief trial in the Lahore High Court ( later directed to the Supreme Court ) , he was condemned and sentenced to death in 1991 , but the sentence was repeatedly postponed by the Government of Pakistan . Five of his mercy petition s were rejected by the courts and the President of Pakistan , but in 2008 the government nonetheless put off Singh ' s execution for an indefinite period . Singh ' s lawyers , who filed the mercy petitions on his behalf , argued that he served twenty - two years in prison for a crime he had not committed . On 26 June 2012 , it was reported that Pakistan ' s president had pardoned him on the basis of his petition filed on 28 May 2012 . However , five hours later , the pardon was revoked and the government clarified that another prisoner , Surjeet Singh , had been pardoned and not Sarabjit . While in prison in April 2013 , he was attacked by fellow inmates and died six days later at Jinnah Hospital , Lahore . A biographical film on him is being produced by Indian filmmaker Subhash Ghai . Background and family . Sarabjit was from Bhikhiwind , located along the Indo - Pakistani border in the Tarn Taran district of Punjab , India . A well - built man , he was fond of wrestling and taking care of rare pigeons for games . He worked as a farmer on other ' s fields . He was married to Sukhpreet Kaur and had two daughters Swapandeep and Poonam Kaur . His sister , Dalbir Kaur , was working towards his release since 1991 . However , another woman named Baljinder Kaur has disputed Dalbir ' s relation to Sarabjit and has claimed herself as Sarabjit ' s real sister . According to Baljinder , Sarabjit was the third eldest of ten siblings and Dalbir was not their sister , but had happened to know Sarabjit since 1989 ; " Dalbir Kaur assured us she had right links and would struggle for the release of Sarabjit on some conditions . We trusted her and let her pursue the matter , only to be pushed out of the picture . " Dalbir added that she had nothing to prove her relation with Sarabjit except offering to undergo a DNA test . She also claimed that Sarabjit ' s real brothers , Charanjit and Harbhajan , were not allowed to light his pyre at his funeral and were " pushed back " by people at the cremation ground . Commenting further on Dalbir , she added : " People have been coming to the fore ( after Sarabjit ' s death ) for cheap publicity . They were nowhere when I alone struggled for his release . " Arrest and prosecution . After accomplishing his mission , Sarbajit was caught on an unmarked Indo - Pakistani border area into Pakistan where he was arrested by the Pakistan Rangers in the Khalra border sector near Kasur . Sarabjit and his supporters claimed that the arrest was a case of mistaken identity and that he was only a poor farmer who was drunk and had strayed over the border . His sister said that the family launched a search but could not find any clue to his whereabouts for nine months . Finally they received a letter from Sarabjit after a year informing them that he had been arrested in Pakistan as " Manjit Singh " as he had no identification papers and had been charged by the Lahore police in the bombings . He was convicted of spying and carrying out the bombings and was given the death penalty . Some sources say that he was initially arrested on the charges of illegally crossing the India - Pakistan border . But after eight days , the Pakistani police charged him with being involved in the 1990 terror blasts at Faisalabad and Lahore . The authorities claimed that he was ' Manjit Singh ' and had been responsible for the four blasts which killed 14 people , and had been arrested while returning to India after carrying out the bombings . . He was accused of working for the Indian Intelligence Service and was viewed as a terrorist in Pakistan . He subsequently confessed on camera to the bombings . It has been reported that " Manjit Singh " was later apprehended in Canada , and later in India . Death sentence . In 1991 Sarabjit was given the death sentence under the Pakistan ' s Army Act . His sentence was upheld by the High Court and later by the Pakistan Supreme Court . The Supreme Court dismissed a petition to review his death sentence in March 2006 as Sarabjit ' s lawyers failed to appear for the hearing . Sarabjit said that his appeal had been dismissed by the Pakistan Supreme Court only because of lack of interest by his former lawyer . On 26 June 2012 , it was reported that President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan had decided to release Sarabjit Singh . This drew a storm of condemnation from Islamic groups Jamaat - e - Islami and Jamaat - ud - Da ’ wah . Later that day , after media agencies in both Pakistan and India had reported on a commuted sentence and pending release for Sarabjit , the Pakistani government announced that the name of the prisoner to be released would be " Surjeet " Singh , not " Sarabjit " Singh . Issues with prosecution . On 26 April 2008 , the key witness Shaukat Salim retracted his statement during an interview with journalists . Salim ' s father and other relatives had been killed in the bombing . In court Salim testified that Sarabjit had planted the bomb but later said that he made that statement under pressure from the police . Sarabjit ' s lawyer , Abdul Rana Hamid , said that Salim ' s statements had no legal standing as they were never recorded in court . Pakistani human rights activist Ansar Burney claimed that none of the four FIR s filed with regard to the bombings contained Sarabjit ' s name nor his description and that Sarabjit had been arrested on the night of 30 August 1990 at the Kasur border for illegally crossing the Indo - Pakistani border . Eight days after , the police implicated him in the terrorist bombings . He had not been arrested red - handed . Burney also pointed out that the same magistrate had recorded the witness statements in all the four bombings , of which one had taken place at Faisalabad and the remaining three at Lahore , although the police investigations involved four different police stations and two different districts . He said four different magistrates should have recorded the statements . None of the statements recorded in front of the magistrate were taken under oath . Sarabjit had been paraded before the witnesses in the absence of the magistrate , and the police had informed the witnesses that he was the bomber . This was confirmed by Shaukat Salim , a key prosecution witness in the case . A British lawyer , Jas Uppal , campaigning for his release , pointed to several problems with the prosecution in the trial . These problems included : Mercy petitions . Since his conviction in 1991 , several mercy petitions had been filed by Sarabjit ' s lawyers . The fifth petition was filed on 28 May 2012 along with 100 , 000 signatures collected from India . None of the mercy petitions had been granted . Support and efforts for release . On 23 August 2005 , Sarabjit ' s case was taken up in both houses of the Indian Parliament , where the government was asked to take action for his release . In March 2008 , Sarabjit ' s family went to Pakistan when his hanging was to be carried out . They met several prominent Pakistani politicians including the former Prime minister Nawaz Sharif to appeal for his release . Sharif said , " After seeing the plight of the members of Sarabjit ' s family who have come to Pakistan , any person can feel the pain they are going through . " However , Sharif added that he should be released on the condition that India would send him back to Pakistan if further evidence was found against him . The Indian External Affairs Minister K . Natwar Singh took up Sarabjit Singh ' s case with the Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan and urged him to convey Delhi ' s hope that Islamabad would treat the matter as a humanitarian issue . In June 2012 , Bollywood actor Salman Khan came out in favour of the release of Sarabjit . He started an online petition from his NGO Being Human in support of Sarabjit ' s release . Free Sarabjit campaign . In 2009 , the British lawyer , Jas Uppal , started an online campaign " freesarabjitsingh . com " to highlight the case and request human rights groups to intervene on his behalf . Awaish Sheikh , Sarabjit ' s Pakistani lawyer , supported the campaign and provided his services free of charge to Sarabjit . Bollywood actor and activist Raza Murad also campaigned for his release . As of June 2012 , he had collected 138 , 226 signatures in support of Sarabjit ' s release . After the Pakistani government ' s reversal regarding his release in June 2012 , Murad intensified his ' Free Sarabjit ' campaign . Protests . In April 2008 , a group of Pakistani students organised a march seeking withdrawal of all official moves to pardon Sarabjit . Controversies . Presidential pardon . On 26 June 2012 , both Pakistani and International media reported President Asif Ali Zardari signed a document sent by the interior ministry of Pakistan commuting Sarabjit ' s death sentence to life in prison . A life sentence in Pakistan is generally for 14 years , and Sarabjit , having spent 22 years in jail was to be shortly released . The news of his pardon and imminent release initiated celebrations in his hometown . The Indian foreign minister also issued a statement of appreciation to Islamabad for the gesture . Five hours later the Pakistani Government issued a statement denying the reports and holding the media responsible for the confusion . They announced that the release order had been for another prisoner , Surjeet Singh , who was pardoned in 1989 . Sarabjit ' s family condemned the incident as a " " " cruel joke " . Sarabjit Singh filed a new mercy appeal to the President of Pakistan on the 65th independence day of that country . Religious conversion . According to released Indian detainee in Pakistan Surjeet Singh , who upon reaching India confessed that he himself had been a spy , Surjeet also claimed that Sarabjit and another Indian detainee , Kirpal , had converted to Islam in the hope of getting " concessions " from jail authorities . " Sarabjit is known as Sarfaraz while Kirpal ' s Muslim name was Mohammad Deen . They embraced Islam for concessions from jail authorities and from the Pakistan government , but it didn ’ t happen , ” he said . The claim of Sarabjit ' s conversion was denied by Sarabjit ' s sister , who insisted : " This is not true at all . Sarabjit was a Gursikh , is a Gursikh and will remain a Gursikh . He has kept photos of Sikh gurus in jail and a Sikh religious book . He regularly recites from that book . " Death . On 26 April 2013 at about 4 : 30 pm , Sarabjit was attacked in the Central Jail Lahore ( Kot Lakhpat jail ) allegedly by other prisoners with bricks , sharp metal sheets , iron rods and blades . He was admitted to Jinnah Hospital , Lahore in critical condition with severe head injuries , in a coma , with a broken backbone . He was placed on a ventilator . The exact circumstances of the attack and the number of attackers have been differently reported . Some sources have indicated that there were six assailants whereas others have indicated two . Some indicated that he was assaulted in his cell ; others indicated that the attack took place when he was brought out of his cell for an hour - long break . According to his sister , the attack on Sarabjit was pre - planned and the jail authorities were involved . His wife , sister and two daughters were allowed to visit him in the hospital . Sarabjit had been threatened after Afzal Guru was executed in India in February 2013 over his role in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack case . Some sources had indicated that the attack was planned after Guru ' s execution . The Indian prime minister , Manmohan Singh , termed the attack as " very sad " . On 29 April 2013 , India appealed to Pakistan to release Sarabjit on humanitarian grounds or at least allow him to be provided medical treatment in India , but these were repeatedly rejected by Pakistan . Appeals by lawyers were also filed with the Supreme Court of Pakistan to send Sarabjit for medical treatment to the UK or outside Pakistan to save his life . On 1 May 2013 he was declared brain dead by doctors at Jinnah Hospital , but Pakistani authorities refused to give a statement . His sister and family returned to India . His sister said that the doctors attending to his brother were not being honest with them and she suspected foul play . She also remarked to having seen ink on his left thumb and that the Pakistani doctors had been evading questions . On 2 May 2013 , he was reported to have died at 12 : 45 am local time in Lahore , when he was removed from the ventilator support after his condition worsened towards the middle of the night . His body was brought to India by a special aircraft the same evening . Indian doctors claimed that the second postmortem revealed that vital organs were missing from his body . Autopsy also revealed that his skull was broken into two pieces . They were , however , waiting for the report of the first postmortem conducted in Pakistan . Aftermath . The Government of Punjab , India declared a three - day period of mourning over Sarabjit Singh ' s death and announced it would pay his descendants a compensation of Rs 10 , 000 , 000 . Attack on Pakistani prisoner in Jammu . Following the attack in prison and subsequent death of Sarabjit Singh , a Pakistani prisoner serving a life sentence in Jammu jail was attacked on 3 May 2013 , allegedly by another murder row convict , causing serious head injuries . Security of Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails was tightened . The Pakistani prisoner ( Sanaullah Ranjay ) who was hospitalised in Chandigarh died later due to multiple organ failure .