Indian officials meet Sarabjit in Pak hospital

The death row convict was admitted to ICU after fellow inmates attacked him with blunt objects

India today got consular access to death row convict Sarabjit Singh in the ICU of a hospital in Lahore, where he was admitted after being attacked by two prisoners in the jail.     

"Officers of India's High Commission in Islamabad obtain access to Sarabjit Singh in the ICU of Jinnah hospital, Lahore at 2:00 am," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said.     

Earlier, India has sought consular access to the 49-year-old Sarabjit.     

The attack occurred when the victim and other prisoners were brought out of their cells for an hour-long break. The two prisoners assaulted Sarabjit with blunt objects and he sustained a severe head injury.     

Sarabjit was initially taken to the hospital within the prison. After his condition worsened, he was moved in an ambulance to the state-run hospital, officials in Lahore said.     

Sarabjit was convicted for alleged involvement in a string of bomb attacks in Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990.     
His mercy petitions were rejected by the courts and former President Pervez Musharraf.     

The outgoing Pakistan Peoples Party-led government put off Sarabjit's execution for an indefinite period in 2008.     
Sarabjit's family says he is the victim of mistaken identity and had inadvertently strayed across the border in an inebriated state.