Lahore, May 2: Pakistan's government has stayed the execution of Sarabjit Singh until further orders, a jail official said on Friday.

Singh, whose family says he is the victim of mistaken identity, was to be hanged on April 1 after being convicted of involvement in blasts that killed four people in Lahore in 1990. But President Pervez Musharraf, who had earlier rejected his mercy petition, delayed the execution until April 30. Subsequently, it was put off by another three weeks.

Speaking to AFP today, Malik Mubashir Ahmad Khan, superintendent of Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail where Singh is lodged, read out an Interior Ministry order which said: “The execution of Indian national Sarabjit Singh is stayed till further orders.”

The stay of execution, which jail authorities received today, came days after Singh’s wife, daughters and sister visited Lahore to meet him in prison. The Supreme Court had earlier rejected an appeal against Singh’s death penalty.

Pakistan maintains Singh was an Indian spy, but his family says he is a farmer who accidentally strayed across the border into Pakistan while drunk. He has been in jail in Pakistan since 1990.