Sarabjit Singh

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sarabjit Singh

• He was an animal lover and loved to take care of rare pigeons.

• Sarabjit was a good wrestler.

• Sarabjit Singh was arrested by Pakistan’s authorities after he crossed their border in 1990.

• He was accused by the authorities of being Manjit Singh, a RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) agent, involved in 4 bomb blasts which killed 14 people in 1990.

• After 9 months of going missing, Sarabjit wrote a letter in 1991 about his imprisonment in Pakistan, finally ending his sister, Dalbir Kaur’s search for him.

• Sarabjit Singh was given a death sentence in 1991 by the Pakistan’s Supreme Court.

• In his statement in Pakistan’s court, Sarabjit denied being a member of RAW and having any role in the bombings. He further claimed that he was in India when the bombings occurred. ^[2]The Indian Express

• In his statement, he also said that he had crossed over to Pakistan’s border on 29 August 1990 to smuggle liquor.

• Dalbir Kaur, his sister, worked continuously in trying to get him released for over 22 years, continuously appealing to Indian and Pakistani government officials.

  

• Sarabjit informed about the mistreatment in the Pakistani prison to his sister when she went to the prison to meet him. He also wrote several letters describing the poor conditions and the poor food quality in prison to his sister.

• In 2006, Dalbir Kaur attempted suicide to put pressure on the Indian government and help Sarabjit get released from prison.

• A key witness to the bombings, Shaukat Salim, retracted his statement after claiming that Sarabjit was involved in the bombings. He also said that he made those claims under pressure from the police.

• British lawyer, Jas Uppal, volunteered and launched an international campaign for Sarabjit’s release.

• She claimed that there were several mistakes in the trial including a lack of evidence, and the trial being conducted in English language, which Sarabjit didn’t know. ^[3]The Hindu

• Sarabjit’s lawyer, Awais Sheikh, also said that there were many mistakes in his trial. He further said that it was a case of mistaken identity as Sarabjit was registered as Manjit by Pakistan’s police.

  

• International and Pakistan media reported that Pakistan’s President, Asif Ali Zardari, signed a document converting Sarabjit’s death sentence to life imprisonment on 27 June 2012.

• This meant that Pakistan would have to release Sarabjit as life imprisonment in Pakistan generally lasts 14 years and Sarabjit had already been imprisoned for over 22 years.

• This turned out to be false as later, Pakistan’s government cleared that they were releasing Surjeet and not Sarabjit Singh. It was due to a similar spelling in the Urdu language that the confusion had occurred.

• On 26 April 2013, he was attacked by fellow inmates of Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore. He suffered serious injuries and went into a coma.

• He passed away about a week after the attack at the Jinnah Hospital, Lahore.

• The initial reports that came out of the hospital stated that he suffered massive internal bleeding due to injuries on his head and passed away due to cardiac arrest.

• In the autopsy done by Indian doctors, it was revealed that Sarabjit was attacked with the intent to kill by more than two people.

• Some organs were also missing from Sarabjit’s body such as his heart, kidney and gall bladder which are essential for autopsy. The doctors claimed that this might be due to the autopsy performed in Pakistan.

• The Indian doctors said that they had asked the Jinnah Hospital for detailed medical reports including the post-mortem report, hospital records and the treatment given to Sarabjit.

• After Sarabjit’s death, a woman named Baljinder Kaur claimed that she was the real sister of Sarabjit and not Dalbir Kaur.

  

• Baljinder Kaur further claimed in an interview that Dalbir promised to help her family free Sarabjit but later sidelined them and said,
  

  Dalbir Kaur assured us she had the 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 Kaur denied the claims and said that she didn’t know any Baljinder Kaur. In an interview, she further claimed that people have been trying to get publicity since Sarabjit’s death.

• Baljinder’s brother, Charanjit Singh, also denied the claims of Sarabjit being their brother.

• On 20 May 2016, a biographical film on his life titled ‘Sarabjit’ was released.

  

• Actor Randeep Hooda portrayed Sarabjit Singh in the film.

• One of his attackers, Amir Sarfaraz Tamba, was attacked in his home by unknown masked assailants and killed on 14 April 2024.