Senior Punjab Police officer claims Tamba who killed Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh is ‘still alive’

According to the FIR, Junaid Sarfraz said he and his elder brother Amir Sarfraz Tamba, who was in his late 40s, were present at their home in Sanant Nagar when the incident took place.

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Members of the Sikh community in Kolkata attend a prayer for Sarabjit Singh in 2013. (Express Photo By Partha Paul)

A day after Amir Sarfaraz Tamba, an accused in the murder of Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh inside a jail here in 2013, was killed by unidentified gunmen, a senior Punjab Police officer gave a spin to the incident claiming that he is “still alive”.

Tamba, a close associate of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfit founder Hafiz Saeed, was attacked by motorcycle-borne assailants at his residence in Sanant Nagar here. He was rushed in critical condition to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

But Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Operations Lahore Syed Ali Raza told the Dawn newspaper that “Tamba is still alive but critically injured”. However, when PTI confronted Lahore police spokesperson Farhan Shah about the SSP’s statement on Monday, he declined to comment on the matter, terming it “sensitive”.

Interestingly, SSP Raza did not reveal where Tamba was shifted for “medical treatment” if he is alive.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s interior minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday did not rule out India’s hand in the murder of Tamba. “India was directly involved in a few murder incidents here in the past. Police are investigating this matter and it would be premature to say India’s involvement in this (Tamba) case at this stage, however, they are suspecting India’s involvement. It has a similar pattern,” Naqvi, who is also the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), told journalists here on Monday.

Two gunmen shot dead Tamba at his residence in Sanant Nagar, a thickly-populated area of old Lahore, on Sunday afternoon. A picture of Tamba’s blood-soaked body also went viral on social media.

Police have registered an FIR against two unidentified assailants on the complaint of Tamba’s younger brother Junaid Sarfraz.

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According to the FIR, Junaid Sarfraz said he and his elder brother Amir Sarfraz Tamba, who was in his late 40s, were present at their home in Sanant Nagar when the incident took place.

Tamba and his accomplice Mudassar — two Pakistani death row prisoners — had attacked Singh, 49, in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail in 2013 resulting in his death.

A Pakistani court in 2018 acquitted the duo in the murder case of Singh, citing a “lack of evidence” against them.

The Lahore Sessions Court had announced the verdict in the case which was pending for more than five years.

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Singh has been sentenced to death for his alleged involvement in a string of bombings in 1990 in the Punjab province of Pakistan.

However, Singh’s family in India maintained he was a victim of mistaken identity and had inadvertently strayed across the border. His sister Dalbir Kaur had fought a long battle to secure his release from Pakistan but failed.