The ‘real’ Sarabjit has been arrested, claims family

PANCHKULA - Family members of Sarabjit Singh - the Indian who is on death row in Pakistan - say a criminal arrested here Thursday is the one responsible for the blasts which Pakistan has blamed on Sarabjit.

Panchkula police arrested Manjeet Singh Rattu in connection with a case of fraud registered here a few months back.

Manjeet is also the name by which Sarabjit is known in Pakistan.

Sarabjit Singh’s lawyers and family members have repeatedly claimed that he is a victim of mistaken identity, and that the real Manjeet Singh was someone else.

I am sure that police have arrested the same Manjeet Singh who was actually responsible for Pakistan blasts. Tomorrow I will go myself to see him in the police station. I have also talked to Haryana police chief and he has assured me of all possible help, Sarabjit’s sister Dalbir Kaur told IANS here Thursday.

However, Panchkula police are not so sure of the Sarabjit family’s claims.

Our investigation is on. So far we have not found any evidence that he (Manjeet) was responsible for bombing in Pakistan, police superintendent Maneesh Chaudhary told IANS.

Sarabjit, who is languishing in Pakistan jails for over 19 years, has been convicted of staging four bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan in 1990 that claimed 14 lives. He is currently lodged in Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore, facing the death sentence.

His family claims he crossed into Pakistan inadvertently in a drunken stupor in August 1990 and was arrested.