India yet to identify prisoner who died in Pakistan jail

The government has failed to identify an Indian who died in a Pakistani jail Wednesday though Islamabad had named him in a list of Indians held prisoner across the border.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said,“His name was given by Pakistan in the list of Indian prisoners. However,we have not been able to establish his identity on two occasions” – by a judicial committee in April and by consular staff who met him this month as he was not mentally fit to provide any details about him.

Pakistan Wednesday said an “Indian prisoner” had died,apparently of heart attack,in a hospital in Lahore.

Zakir Mumtaz,believed to be a resident of a village near Amritsar,was admitted to Jinnah Hospital after he fell ill Wednesday,officials in Pakistan had said. Mumtaz,50,was arrested on August 3,2011 for illegally crossing the border.