Chamail Singh, son of Salaar Singh, is a 48-year-old resident of Targwal Khalkay village, Akhnoor tehsil, in Jammu, who was imprisoned on spying charges after a military trial sentence in June 2012. ILLUSTRATION: AMNA IQBAL
Chamail Singh, son of Salaar Singh, is a 48-year-old resident of Targwal Khalkay village, Akhnoor tehsil, in Jammu, who was imprisoned on spying charges after a military trial sentence in June 2012.
The beating was witnessed by another inmate, Tehsin Khan Advocate, who was able to speak about it as he was freed three days later on January 18. He told The Express Tribune that at 7:45am on January 15 Singh was washing his clothes at a tap in the jail’s courtyard when two chakar imdadis or hawaldars, Muhammad Sidique and Muhammad Nawaz, and Assistant Superintendent of Jail (ASJ) Nasir Nawaz stopped him for doing so.
“Does he think the jail is his home where he can wash his clothes wherever he wants?” Khan quoted Nawaz as saying.
When Singh responded, the hawaldars started beating him on Nawaz’s orders. The ASJ himself allegedly pounded Singh with his fists. Kicks drew blood from Singh’s upper lip and brow. The three men continued to beat him for a minute, at the end of which he was dead, claimed Khan.
The jailors dispatched the body to the prison hospital before rushing to barrack No. 4 where Singh had been kept. According to Khan, eight affidavits were then extracted from his fellow inmates, all Indian nationals, to the effect that it was a ‘natural’ death. Aided by another inmate Zeeshan, the prisoners who signed the papers were Maqbool Ali, Mohammad Fareed, Kuldeep Kumar, Javed Singh and Lakhu Ram, Shabu Nath. This was all done in the absence of a magistrate.
The affidavits state that Singh lit a cigarette after washing his clothes and died of natural causes. He was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Singh’s body has been in the Jinnah Hospital mortuary for 12 days. Assistant Superintendant of Police Muhammad Sarwar confirms that he had received the body from the jail and taken it to the hospital.
ASJ Nasir Nawaz was contacted several times by The Express Tribune, but he did not respond. Additional Superintendant Ishtiaq Gill denied, claims, that Singh was beaten to death.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 28th, 2013.
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The Sickhrra got what he deserved for spying!
shame on u @Zaid Hamid:
To all my Pakistani friends who are worried about the negative publicity this story will create ,dont hide the truth or try to hide it . We all have our warts the only solution is to accept we have them and have them removed (by burning).
this is the pakistan media defaming pakistan in every manner they can.i can surely say these kind of people are the modern mir jaffar ready to sell pakistan this is proof
@Shaami: Sikhs are the most respected people and just meet some SIkh in Punjab Pakistan and they are a celebrity here
You may be right 100% about how people respect Sikhs in some parts of Pakistan. My uncle once visited Pakistan and was treated very nicely. Lot of other Indians who visit Pakistan are treated very nicely.
But my friend, I have heard stories of treatment of Indians in Pakistani prisons by some one who was in Pakistani prisons. He saw many people die in prisons. He himself came close to death a few times. Keeping in mind his safety I can't share more.
Why these prison officials already gotten affidavits from some prisoners?
Good work et. I am falling in love with your newspaper.
If this news item is true, than it is extremely condemnable. However, before we start blaming any country, do note that most of the prisoners released in the last 4-5 decades between Pakistan and India (apart from the fisher folk) tend to be mentally unstable. This is equally true on both sides. It is hard to comprehend the torture that such prisoners go through on both sides to loose their mind. If any of you want to actually do something, please get a list of Indian/Pakistani prisoners in your country, select the nearest prison, and help the imprisoned person get justice before they go mad. If not, then don’t comment.
@BRUISED INDIAN: so WHAT was he doing in Pakistan territory.. we knew your real face too ,Sabajheet Singh had confessed that he was involved in bombing in Lahore.. and some indian army colonel was involved in Samjhota Express Bombing.. he was the guy who supplied RDX and obviously he alone could not do that some of GOVT machinery surely would be a part of that
We have DAWN, We have tribune.. in the end we are doomed..
if correct, there should be inquiry. but alas nothing is going to happen..
To all Pakistanis who diss at ET for bringing this story and creating fodder for Indian media....How is it that u laud Indian journalism for speaking the truth when someone comments on Hindutva terror without evidence backing them or when some journalist reports a story of an alleged crime done by Armed forces in Kashmir without waiting for evidence.....
Lets face the truth,not everyone in both country is a saint and its the duty of the media to report any wrongdoings
@abid: It is your job as a citizen to demand justice. The job of the reporter is to report.
@Shaami: In Lahore there is one Traffic wardon who is a Sikh and people rush to him to take pictures with him. Shows what a rare sight a Sikh is in the land of their forefathers. Most sources indicate that there around 50k Sikhs left in the whole of Pakistan. Do you know how many Sikhs there are in India? 19 million.
The poor guy was just washing his clothes. Really really sad. Regardless of the identity of the person, this was brutal and perpetrators should be brought to justice.
@Yoghurt lover: Mr Yoghurt lover i am from Punjab Pakistan and your point number 2 is the most stupid, ill informed and based on Lies. I agree that in Punjab Pakistan there is animosity against Hindus just like there is for Ahmedi people but Sikhs are a different story altogether. Sikhs are the most respected people and just meet some SIkh in Punjab Pakistan and they are a celebrity here. In Hasan Abdal alone more than 30,000 Sikhs . In Lahore there is one Traffic wardon who is a Sikh and people rush to him to take pictures with him. Now he has been transferred since he was a Police warden and because of him traffic was blocked at times rather than having a smooth flow.
@Amer: Yeah, because you are not used to listen the truth.
Inquiry should be initiated immediately in the case so that truth is revealed and justice is done.
The Supreme court of Pakistan should order for a impartial judicial investigation in to the barbaric acts of jail officials and punish the culprits
my point is not to condemn Pak express tribune article..but to condemn the way of Pak express tribune... if such thing happened then why didn't they ask the concerned authorities to take action against havaldars. If a prisoner is in prison his safety and securiy is the liability Of Jail authorities. If they are involved in this murder then they should also be tried under the law. Human rights of prisoner cannot be overlooked at any cost.
If this is true, we regret and condemn as a nation and if this is a sensation of ET still we regret and condemn as the reader of the ET.
Thanks ET for getting down to the level of the Indian media! I knew it wouldn't take you very long to join their ranks.
@Gratgy:
Optimist it is more like the actions of Caligula (AD 12 - AD 41).
Prisons are the same either in India or in Pakistan. The jailors and police are also the same, it looks like, This is not only Indians suffering in Pakistan, but also pakistanis suffering in Pakistan prisons (eg the missing persons) or the Indians and pakistanis who are suffering in Indian prisons.
Now this reporter needs to provide the evidence of his claims :)
@Zia: ||||Shame on Express tribune for running these irresponsible news. What is the credibility of Tehsin Khan for this issue?.||
As of the prisons are guarded by saints - You are asking for credibility??, a lame person will tell as soon as the misterous death of that inmate that it's a murder and you are asking for credibility!!!
By the way many inelegance agency said Osama is hiding in Pakistan and you asked for credibility of the source....and in the end he was found deep inside Pakistan, so instead of covering up your mistake try to rectify it so that in future such misshapes don't happen again...
@Shakir Lakhani:
"No Indian newspaper would ever report an incident of a Pakistani prisoner beaten to death in an Indian jail."
Yes! That's a billion dollar comment. I wonder why?!!
@Zia: @Rehman Khar: Dear Sir, In the name of defaming Pakistan you are condemning the ET. Will you please look at yourself and your morale values. The misconduct is not only wrong in the eyes of the reporter but by the LAW WITHHELD & PRACTICED BY PEOPLE OF PAKISTAN. Do not insult all law respecting people by your paranoid ego.
No Indian newspaper would ever report an incident of a Pakistani prisoner beaten to death in an Indian jail.
Pakistani people PLEASE stop acting as though we Indians are your enemies itching to take advantage of this story or something. We are human beings after all. The media on both sides is too aggressive sometimes, yes... but I don't hate Pakistan... so stop being paranoid about what India will do with this story, etc! Please...
Sorry to say but what is the qualification of Rana Tanveer ? and what was the editor of Pak Express tribune doing?
freedom of press doesn't mean freedom to malign..what is the source of your article? With article like this you are doing a big damage to Pakistan.If this article was true then why didn't you informed the Jail Superintendent to take action against havaldars?
I want to thank all the Pakistanis here who are being humane and showing sympathy and even asking for justice. If there are any Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails we should show the same empathy. Thank you again friends.
Point No.1 : In maximum probability, he was an innocent person and not a spy of any kind.
Point No.2 : He was probably beaten and killed because he was a Sikh and not because he was Indian.
Point No.3 : This is probably common jails across sub-continent. However, the reason for such tortures are never the religion of a person in India.
As an Indian first let me thank and congratulate Express Tribune for its independent and daring journalism. Secondly to all Pakistani friends here who are so angry at ET: why??? YES, SOME OF THE INDIAN MEDIA MIGHT PICK IT UP, YES, SOME OF INDIAN MEDIA ARE AGGRESSIVE AND ANTI-PAKISTAN, BUT WHY CAN'T WE, THE REASONABLE, GOOD INDIANS AND PAKISTANIS, BOTH CHALLENGE THAT? Should we live in fear of what the other country's media is going to do? Or should we both challenge our country's prevailing prejudices? SHOULD I NOT CHALLENGE THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT'S RECORD IN KASHMIR? AND SHOULD YOU, FRIENDS, NOT CHALLENGE YOUR GOVERMENT'S RECORD IN CATCHING AND PUNISHING MILITANTS? Let's both be wise... both sides...
@Yuri Kondratyuk: " There’s no telling how macho Pakistanis get when they have power and numbers." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The macho force drives be headings.
What does the postmortem report say?
Jail abuse, arrest all involved, where is CJ?
This is sad. No value for human life these days. Be it Indian, Pakistani or arab. I wish these police men die in agony. Ameen.
May his soul RIP
This is why we say..we will not take prisoners this time.
Barbaric country rushing towards the 15th century
This is indeed barbaric act and there must be an inquirey conducted and concerned be punished.
No comments from self respecting Pakistanis?
There's no telling how macho Pakistanis get when they have power and numbers.
Chamail Singh - May your soul rest in peace.....
It is a suicide by hanging then.
Is this yor true face?
So sad, for the lack of desency by the officers of jail.
cool