LAHORE, Pakistan – Pakistani authorities are delving into the circumstances surrounding the shooting death of a man acquitted of killing Indian spy Sarabjit Singh in a Lahore prison in 2013, a police official disclosed on Sunday.
Allegations of Indian intelligence agency involvement in killings inside Pakistan have been made in the past. Pakistani officials claim to have credible evidence linking Indian agents to the deaths of two Pakistanis the previous year.
The deceased man in Lahore, identified as Amir Tamba, was a suspect in the death of Sarabjit Singh, an Indian national convicted of espionage in Pakistan in 1991 and sentenced to death. Singh was fatally attacked by inmates in a Lahore prison in 2013, sparking heightened tensions between the two nuclear-armed South Asian countries.
Tamba and another individual faced trial for Singh’s death but were acquitted in 2018 due to a lack of evidence, according to the deputy inspector general of police in Lahore, Ali Nasir Rizvi. Gunmen reportedly entered Tamba’s residence, shot him, and then fled the scene on a motorcycle. Pakistani army and intelligence officials arrived at the location, retrieved Tamba’s body, and transported it to the city’s Combined Military Hospital for further examination.
Rizvi announced that a case had been registered against unidentified attackers but did not provide additional details about the incident, including a possible motive for the shooting. The news of Tamba’s demise received limited coverage in Pakistani media, while Indian news outlets swiftly reported on the incident. Indian authorities have yet to release a statement regarding the shooting.
Sarabjit Singh, originally arrested in 1990 for alleged involvement in bombings in Lahore and Faisalabad that resulted in 14 fatalities, was described by his family as innocent. Last year, accusations surfaced from both the United States and Canada linking Indian agents to assassination plots on foreign soil. India denied any involvement in the Canadian assassination attempt, labeling the allegations as “absurd.”
In response to the accusations from the United States, India’s foreign ministry established a high-level committee to probe the claims, noting that any connection to an Indian official was not in alignment with government policy. This ongoing saga highlights the complex and tense relationship between India and Pakistan, marred by accusations of espionage and tragic incidents like Sarabjit Singh’s untimely death in a Lahore prison.