Two ailing Pakistani prisoners die in India

BHUJ/AMRITSAR: Two ailing Pakistanis died in Indian jails on Thursday, reports Indian media. An ailing Pakistani prisoner died at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on Thursday during treatment, said police. According to foreign media, Mohammad Anin Chaudhary, a resident of Karachi, was lodged at Palara jail near Bhuj town of Kutch district since 2017.

The 66-year-old was arrested by the Jakhau police of Kutch district on charges of illegally crossing the India-Pakistan border in the Creek area for fishing, said officials. According to civil superintendent MM Prabhakar, the patient referred to the hospital was a "stroke patient" and he died during treatment.

"In March last year, he was sentenced to three years in jail by a local court. He was lodged at the Palara jail near Bhuj. When his condition deteriorated on 20 February, he was first referred to a hospital in Bhuj and later shifted to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital," said a senior official.

The official added Chaudhary could not recover and eventually died on Thursday in the hospital. Another elderly Pakistani prisoner died following prolonged illness at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar on Thursday.

Amritsar Central Security Jail superintendent Arshdeep Singh told TOI that 62-year-old prisoner Mohammad Amzad was admitted to the hospital on February 25. Amzad was reportedly held for illegally entering India and after completing his jail sentence in Ferozpur jail in 2016, he was shifted to Amritsar jail for repatriation to Pakistan but the Pakistan government had failed to verify his antecedents due to which he couldn’t be sent back to his country.

Sources said that Border Security Force (BSF) would inform Pakistan Rangers about the death of the Pakistani national at the Attari international border and would ask them to receive his body on Friday .