New Delhi: The mortal remains of Kirpal Singh, who died in a Lahore jail in suspicious circumstances last week, were consigned to flames at his village in Punjab's Gurdaspur district today amid a sombre environment.
Hundreds of people from the village and nearby areas joined the mournful family members, relatives and friends of Kirpal Singh during the cremation at Mustafabad village, about 4 km from the district's Gurdaspur town to bid farewell to him.
Kirpal's sister Jagir Kaur and other family members were tearful and inconsolable at the cremation. Dalbir Kaur, sister of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who was also murdered in the same Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore in April 2013, joined the mourners.
Kirpal Singh’s body was brought back to India yesterday. The body was immediately taken to a government hospital in Amritsar for post-mortem examination where it was found that vital organs were missing from his body.
Ashok Chanan, chairman of the three-doctor board that conducted the postmortem in Amritsar, said that during the autopsy, it was found that his heart as well as stomach were missing.
“There were no signs of internal and external injury on the body. We have sent his viscera for examination at the laboratory in Kharar. Heart and liver were missing from the body,” he said, adding that Pakistan has not sent the autopsy report as of now.
Pakistani authorities handed over the body to BSF officials at the Attari-Wagah land border check post after completing necessary formalities. Close relatives and residents from Kirpal Singh's village were present at Attari, 30 km from here, when the body was brought back to India.
Kirpal Singh, the family has maintained, had inadvertently crossed into Pakistan and was arrested and charged with spying by Pakistan authorities.
The Punjab government has offered to extend all help and relief to Kirpal's family on the same lines as given to another Indian prisoner, Sarabjit Singh, who was murdered in the same prison in Lahore in April 2013.
Kirpal Singh, a former serviceman, had been lodged in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat prison since 1992. He died on April 11. Pakistani authorities had labelled him a spy and got him convicted for terror attacks inside Pakistan.
In 2013, when the body of Sarabjit Singh was brought to India, doctors had found that many of the organs including the heart, gall bladder and kidneys were missing.
