A former policeman from Hoshiarpur in Punjab who became a trader in electronic goods, Singh was arrested during a business trip to Rawalpindi in 1973, said Pakistan’s Minister for Human Rights Ansar Burney, who was instrumental in Singh’s release. He was convicted and sentenced to death by a military court in Lahore, but the Government stayed his execution in the late 1970s and Singh’s case then languished. Burney said some of the paperwork on Singh was missing.

Initially, Singh had been in touch with his family through letters, but that contact broke down 24 years ago after he was shifted repeatedly between prisons.

Singh’s only communication with his family over this time was a single letter that he received from them many years ago.

Burney said in a statement that he had been looking for Singh for quite some time but had been unable to locate him because for the past few years, Singh had been known in prison by the name of Ibrahim. The minister learned of Singh’s identity in December during a visit to his jail and pleaded with Musharraf to grant him clemency on humanitarian grounds. Musharraf “kindly ended his death sentence and issued orders for his release” last week, Burney said. “Getting Kashmir Singh released is like Eid for me,” the minister added. “India-Pakistan ties will be strengthened by this.”

Suresh Reddy, the visa counsellor from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, went to Lahore to hand over Singh’s travel documents at the jail. “Singh is in sound health. He has been following the news about his case on radio and TV and is excited at the prospect of seeing his family,” Reddy said.

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