Sarabjit’s family sees ray of hope in Manjit’s arrest

Family members of Sarabjit Singh, who is on a death row in Pakistan after being convicted of playing a role in triggering blasts in Lahore in 1992 that killed more than two dozen people, sought relief on Friday saying the real accused Manjit Singh Rattu had been arrested.

Manjit was the name given to Sarabjit in Pakistan when a case was registered against him in Lahore.

Police, however, dismissed the contention as “preposterous”, saying there was no evidence to prove that Manjit was involved in the blasts in Pakistan. “Pakistan has not given us any such information,” an officer said.

Panchkula Police arrested Manjit in connection with a case of fraud registered in Chandigarh a few months ago.
Sarabjit’s lawyers and family have repeatedly claimed that he was a victim of mistaken identity and the real Manjit was someone else.

The family claims within a month of Sarabjit’s disappearance in 1990 it had lodged a formal police complaint.

Last week, Sarabjit’s new lawyer in Pakistan Awaiz Sheikh had claimed that there was new evidence to prove that he was innocent. Sheikh said he had made a renewed appeal to Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari to reconsider the case. He said he would soon file a revision petition in the Pakistani apex court.

Accompanied by Sarabjit’s sister Dalbir Kaur, the Pakistani lawyer made an appeal to prime minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to take up the case afresh with the Pakistani government on the basis of the new evidence.

Dalbir said Awaiz had replaced Rana Abdul Hamid as Sarabjit’s lawyer in Pakistan a few months ago. She regretted that Rana did not take the case seriously due to which it was decided ex parte by Pakistani courts.

Awaiz said he had gathered pieces of evidence to prove Manjit, in whose name Sarabjit has been sentenced to death, was a different person, who, in fact, had moved to Canada where he was arrested.

“Even in Pakistan we have his pictures where he is shown with a Pakistani woman,” he said, adding that UK-based lawyer Jasbir Uppal had been assisting in the case for quite some time.