33 Facts About Sarabjit Singh

Sarabjit Singh Attwal was an Indian national convicted of terrorism and spying by a Pakistani court.

Sarabjit Singh was tried and convicted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan for a series of bomb attacks in Lahore and Faisalabad that killed 14 bystanders in 1990.

However, according to India, Sarabjit was a farmer who strayed into Pakistan from his village located on the border, three months after the bombings.

Sarabjit Singh was born in Bhikhiwind, located along the Indo-Pakistani border in the Tarn Taran district of Punjab, India.

Sarabjit Singh was fond of wrestling and taking care of rare pigeons.

Sarabjit Singh was married to Sukhpreet Kaur and had two daughters Swapandeep and Poonam Kaur.

However, another woman named Baljinder Kaur disputed Dalbir's relation to Sarabjit Singh and claimed to be Sarabjit Singh's real sister.

Sarabjit Singh claimed that Singh's real brothers, Charanjit and Harbhajan, were not allowed to light his pyre at his funeral and were "pushed back" by people at the cremation ground.

Sarabjit Singh and his supporters claimed that the arrest was a case of mistaken identity and that he was only a poor farmer who was drunk and had strayed over the border.

Sarabjit Singh's sister said that the family launched a search but could not find any clue to his whereabouts for nine months.

Sarabjit Singh was convicted of spying and carrying out the bombings and was given the death penalty.

The authorities claimed that he was 'Ranjit Sarabjit Singh' and had been responsible for the four blasts which killed 14 people, and had been arrested while returning to India after carrying out the bombings.

Sarabjit Singh was accused of working for the Indian Research and Analysis Wing intelligence agency.

In 1991 Sarabjit Singh was given the death sentence under Pakistan's Army Act.

Sarabjit Singh's sentence was upheld by the High Court Division and later by the Appeallate Division.

The Supreme Court dismissed a petition to review his death sentence in March 2006 as Sarabjit Singh's lawyers failed to appear for the hearing.

Sarabjit Singh said that his appeal had been dismissed by the Pakistan Supreme Court only because of lack of interest by his former lawyer.

Sarabjit Singh had been arrested on the night of 30 August 1990 at the Kasur border for illegally crossing the Indo-Pakistani border.

Sarabjit Singh said four different magistrates should have recorded the statements.

Sarabjit Singh had been paraded before the witnesses in the absence of the magistrate, and the police had informed the witnesses that he was the bomber.

In court Salim testified that Sarabjit Singh had planted the bomb but later said that he made that statement under pressure from the police.

Sarabjit Singh, having spent 22 years in jail, was therefore to be released.

Surjeet Sarabjit Singh was arrested on charges of spying by the Pakistani security officials.

Indian government denied that Surjeet Sarabjit Singh was a spy.

Sarabjit Singh filed a new mercy appeal to the President of Pakistan on the 65th independence day of that country.

On 23 August 2005, Sarabjit Singh's case was taken up in both houses of the Indian Parliament, where the government was asked to take action for his release.

In March 2008, Sarabjit Singh's family went to Pakistan for his scheduled execution.

Sarabjit Singh was admitted to Jinnah Hospital, Lahore in critical condition with severe head injuries, in a coma, with a broken backbone.

Sarabjit Singh had been threatened after Afzal Guru was executed in India in February 2013 over his role in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack case.

The Indian prime minister, Manmohan Sarabjit Singh, termed the attack as "very sad".

Sarabjit Singh's sister said that the doctors attending to her brother were not being honest with them and she suspected foul play.

Sarabjit Singh remarked to having seen ink on his left thumb and that the Pakistani doctors had been evading questions.

Sarabjit Singh's body was brought to India by a special aircraft the same evening.