Who was Sarabjit Singh and how was he killed in Pakistan?

An accused in the brutal murder of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh in Pakistan in 2013 was shot by unidentified assailants in Lahore on Sunday, PTI reported.

Amir Sarfaraz Tamba, a close associate of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, was shot dead by bike-borne assailants in Lahore's Islampura area. He was rushed in critical condition to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Singh, 49, died in 2013 after being comatose for nearly a week following a brutal assault by inmates including Tamba, inside the high-security Kot Lakhpat jail.

Who was Sarabjit Singh? What was the case against him?

• Sarabjit Singh was a resident of Bhikhiwind, located along the Indo-Pakistani border in the Tarn Taran district of Punjab.
• In 1990, Sarabjit Singh was arrested by Pakistani border guards from the Indo-Pak border in an inebriated state. His wife claimed he had gone to work on his fields near the Wagah border and had not returned.

  Also Read | Dalbir Kaur, sister of Sarabjit Singh who died in Pakistan jail, passes away

• Sarabjit was initially charged with illegally crossing into Pakistan, and was later accused of being involved in four bombings in Faisalabad and Lahore that caused the death of 14 people.
• In 1991, a Pakistani court found him guilty of terrorism and sentenced him to death under the Pakistan Army Act. A higher court later upheld the decision. Subsequently, his appeals for mercy were rejected by the Supreme Court.
• In 2012, Sarabjit petitioned once more to then Pakistan President Asaf Ali Zardari for mercy. This time, his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

  Also Read | Pakistan sends back Sarabjit's belongings, keeps jail diary

• In the same year, Pakistani officials indicated that Sarabjit could be released as part of a prisoner exchange with India. However, a different man was released in his place, raising the Indian government's ire.
• In 2013, Sarabjit was attacked with bricks and iron rods by a group of inmates in Lahore, putting him in a coma. Several demands by the Indian government to move him to India for treatment, or to a third country, were rejected by Pakistan. Sarabjit died in Lahore on May 1.
• In 2018, a Pakistani court acquitted Tamba and co-accused Mudassar 
  of all charges in the case related to Sarabjit's death, citing lack of evidence, PTI had reported.