Pakistan investigates killing of Sarabjit Singh murder case accused

Islamabad: Pakistani authorities are probing the recent killing of Amir Tamba, one of the individuals accused in the 2013 murder of Indian national Sarabjit Singh.

Tamba was gunned down at his Lahore residence on Sunday, just days after a report by The Guardian claimed that the Indian government has allegedly been involved in the assassination of at least 20 individuals in Pakistan since 2020. The killings were reportedly part of a new strategy to eliminate terrorists residing on foreign soil.

Sarabjit Singh was attacked and killed by fellow inmates at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail in May 2013.

Singh, convicted of terrorism and spying in 1991 in Pakistan, had consistently maintained that he was an Indian farmer who had inadvertently crossed the border. His execution had been postponed multiple times by the Pakistani government.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Lahore, Ali Nasir Rizvi, confirmed Tamba's killing, stating that unidentified gunmen shot him at his home. The shooters escaped on a motorcycle.

Tamba, along with another prime accused, Mudasir Munir, was acquitted of Singh’s murder in 2018 due to lack of evidence. They had been charged with planned murder under the Pakistan Penal Code, following a complaint by Waqar Sumra, the former superintendent of Kot Lakhpat Jail.

The Guardian's report, citing anonymous Indian and Pakistani intelligence sources, alleged that these assassinations were carried out by unidentified gunmen in Pakistan with the direct involvement of India’s foreign intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

India's Ministry of External Affairs refuted these allegations, calling them "false and malicious anti-India propaganda." This denial followed Islamabad's claim in January that it had "credible evidence" linking "Indian agents" to the assassination of two Pakistani nationals associated with terror groups Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Additionally, the United States claimed to have foiled a plot to assassinate Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil last year. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau informed his Parliament in September that Canadian intelligence agencies were investigating "credible allegations" linking Indian government agents to the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.