 "FILE PHOTO: Sarabjit Singh")
Sarabjit Singh spent 22 years in a Lahore jail after being convicted by Pakistan of espionage and terrorism, till an attack by inmates killed him in 2013.
After 11 years, Amir Sarfaraz Tamba, an accused in Sarabjit's murder and a close associate of Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed, was killed by unidentified gunmen in a "targeted attack" in Lahore on Sunday.
Tamba was reportedly attacked by motorcycle-borne assailants in a thickly populated area of old Lahore. He was rushed to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
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Tamba's killing comes at a time when Pakistan has accused India of being involved in a string of targeted killings, which have mostly targeted known terrorists and militants, within its territory.
Who was Sarabjit Singh?
Born in Bhikhiwind, located along the India-Pakistan border in the Tarn Taran district of Punjab, Sarabjit Singh Attwal was a farmer according to Indian accounts and a terrorist according to Pakistan.
Sarabjit and his wife, Sukhpreet Kaur, had two daughters -- Poonam and Swapandeep Kaur. Sarabjit also had a sister, Dalbir Kaur, who lobbied relentlessly to secure his release till his death in 2013.
In 1990, Sarabjit was arrested by Pakistan's border guards in an inebriated state. His wife had claimed that he had not returned after going to work on his fields near the Wagah border.
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Initially, Sarabjit was charged only with illegally crossing into Pakistan. But, he was later accused of being involved in four bombings in Faisalabad and Lahore that had killed 14 in 1990.
In 1991, a Pakistani court found him guilty of terrorism and spying, sentencing him to death under the Pakistan Army Act. The decision was upheld by a higher court and his subsequent appeals for mercy were rejected by Pakistan's Supreme Court.
The Indian account was quite different, with the government maintaining that Sarabjit was a farmer who had strayed into Pakistan months after the bombings.
While Pakistani courts sentenced Sarabjit to death in 1991, Pakistan postponed carrying out the sentence on several occasions.
Subsequently, the then Pakistan People's Party-led government put off Sarabjit's execution for an indefinite period in 2008.
In 2012, Pakistani officials had indicated that Sarabjit could be released as part of a prisoner exchange. However, a different person was released in his place.
The Fatal Attack on Sarabjit
Sarabjit languished in Lahore's high-security Kot Lakhpat Jail until April 26, 2013, when he was attacked by other inmates, including Tamba.
Sarabjit was rushed to Lahore's Jinnah Hospital with severe brain injuries and a broken backbone. He slipped into a coma after he was attacked on the head with iron rods, sharp metal sheets, bricks, and pieces of tin by a group of inmates.
His sister and wife, who were allowed to visit him in the hospital, returned to India after doctors said his coma was irreversible.
On April 29, 2013, India appealed to Pakistan to release Sarabjit on humanitarian grounds or let him come to India for medical care. However, Pakistan turned down these requests.
Sarabjit's Death
On May 1, 2013, six days after the attack, 49-year-old Sarabjit died due to a heart attack at the hospital.
Sarabjit's body was brought back to India on a special aircraft. The Indian doctors who conducted a second autopsy on Sarabjit concluded that he was attacked with the intent "to kill the person".
Sarabjit's vital organs had also been removed, which the Indian doctors said could have been done as part of the first autopsy in Pakistan.
The initial autopsy report had reportedly said that Sarabjit suffered massive internal bleeding due to a head injury.
"It seems that a five cm-wide injury on the top of Sarabjit Singh's skull contributed to his death," a member of the medical board that conducted his autopsy in Lahore had reportedly said.
(With agency inputs)
