Sanaullah’s body to arrive in Sialkot at 4pm

LAHORE: The body of Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay, who succumbed to injuries on Thursday after he was savagely beaten in an Indian jail in an apparent tit-for-tat assault, will be brought to Pakistan in a special plane at 4pm, Geo News reported.

A special PIA plane will leave at 1 pm today for Chandigarh to bring the body of deceased prisoner to Sialkot while the estimated time of landing is 4pm.

Doctors treating Sanaullah Ranjay at a government hospital in Chandigarh said the 52-year-old died of multiple organ failure after suffering severe head injuries in last week's attack at a prison in the northern city of Jammu.

The chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir announced that an inquiry would be held into the May 3 attack on Ranjay, calling it a "matter of deep regret".

But Pakistani officials said they would not be satisfied by an Indian inquiry into the "extra-judicial killing", calling instead for an international-level investigation.

Ranjay's death comes exactly a week after Sarabjit Singh, an Indian who was being held in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat prison after being convicted on espionage charges, died as a result of a savage assault by inmates.

In a statement, the hospital said Ranjay had been declared dead at around 7:00am.

One of his doctors told on condition of anonymity that Ranjay had died after suffering renal failure on Wednesday night.

The hospital would hand over the body to two of his relatives who had arrived in India on Tuesday "as per the instructions of the government", the doctor added.

A spokesman for the Pakistan High Commission said that the Indian government had been asked to immediately release and repatriate the body.

"We are in a shock and deep grief over this barbaric act," the spokesman Manzoor Ali Memon told.

"This is an extra-judicial killing of an innocent citizen of Pakistan right under the noses of the Indian jail authorities.

"We have demanded an inquiry of international level to find out the culprits and expose the connivance."

The Pakistani foreign ministry said that the "brutal" attack was "a matter of deep concern" to the government in Islamabad.

"We have conveyed our concern to the government of India in this regard and demanded that an investigation into the incident be held and perpetrators of this heinous crime be brought to justice," it said in a statement.

"The prime minister of Pakistan has also called upon the government of India to ensure the safety and security of all Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails," it added.