Kashmir Liberated, Others Languish

http://thepost.com.pk/IsbNews.aspx?dtlid=149823&catid=17

Khalid Mehmood died of illness, says Indian HC

Not tortured during trial | Was caught with sensitive documents | Pakistan HC informed Mehmood's family 22 days after his death

Press Release

ISLAMABAD: The High Commission of India has said Khalid Mehmood, an under-trial prisoner in India whose body arrived in Pakistan on March 10 (Monday), died of illness on February 12, 2008.

A statement issued by Indian HC says politicising the case and suppressing the facts serves no purpose other than to heighten the anguish of the bereaved family. Mehmood went to India on a four-day cricket visa in April 2005. He then disappeared and was apprehended by the Faridabad Police on May 17, 2006, more than a year after his visa had expired, it said.

The statement said sensitive documents were recovered from Mehmood's possession which he was carrying to Delhi to deliver to some persons who were traveling to Pakistan by Samjhota Express.

As per standard practice, an FIR was filed and a case registered against Mehmood under various sections of the law, including the Foreigners Act, the Passport Act, the Official Secrets Act and the Indian Penal Code, it said.

He was produced before a court in Faridabad and trialed in a jail in Gurgaon till May 25, 2006, according to the statement.

Currently, neither country officially notifies the other when its nationals are arrested, it said, adding, however, it is strange that Mehmood's family also did not bring to the Pakistan Government's attention the fact that Mehmood had been missing for almost three years and did not return from India in April 2005.

This has been confirmed by the MFA's spokesman Wednesday, the press release said. Someone must explain why he disappeared and what the real purpose of his travel was, since he did not return to Pakistan along with hundreds of other cricket fans, it said.

While in prison, Mehmood was provided medical treatment as per his symptoms from time to time, the statement said.

According to the Indian high commission, he was also referred to General Hospital, Gurgaon, last December. When he developed abdominal distension on February 1, 2008, he was treated at this hospital.

Later, on February 11, 2008, he was referred to Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi and then transferred to AIIMS for further treatment. Unfortunately, he succumbed to his ailment on February 12, 2008.

The Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi was immediately informed of Mehmood's death and requested to intimate his next of kin to collect the dead body, the statement said.

The Pakistan HC acknowledged this on February 13, 2008, but only conveyed to the Indian Government on March 5, 2008, 22 days later, that the relatives had been contacted and they had desired that the body be transported to Pakistan for burial as per Islamic rites.

Accordingly, the body was brought to the Wagah border on March 10, 2008.

It is emphasised that no torture was inflicted on Mehmood while he was an under-trial prisoner. Necessary post-mortem reports were also handed over to his relatives along with the dead body, the statement concluded.

I think the way Khalid Mahmood was treated is a travesty. It is sad and ironic for a country that claims to be the land of milk and honey.

Nobody claimed India as a land of milk and honey. Pl dont mix-up issues here.

Why would someone serve a kanjar and ungrateful nation that abandons its soldiers and citizens?

Pakis got their 90000 soldiers, and Hinjras couldn't get a few back............they should commit suicide by drowning in their own moot

its good to see an innocent man released!!!