Pakistan asserts, without providing any evidence, that India was involved in the murder of Sarabjit’s murderer

Once more, Pakistan has leveled unfounded accusations against India. This time, interior minister Mohsin Naqvi claims that India was involved in the 2013 death of ISI handler Amir Sarfaraz, also known as Tamba. Tamba was accused of viciously attacking Indian death row inmate Sarabjit Singh, causing his death inside a Lahore jail.

Naqvi said at a news briefing on Monday that Pakistani law enforcement authorities believe “India’s involvement” in Tamba’s “targeted killing.” He said that a “pattern” was seen in the murders committed by two attackers riding bicycles.

It is believed that India was responsible for four further killings that occurred in Pakistan. We won’t make any further remarks till the inquiry is over,” he said. Although S Jaishankar, the Minister of External Affairs, has previously said that it is not their policy to carry out targeted executions, the Indian government has not yet responded to the accusation.

The accusations follow a story in the Guardian that said, citing intelligence officers in Pakistan, that the Indian government had been responsible for many targeted assassinations in Pakistan since 2020. Notably, those slain in assaults by unknown attackers were designated as terrorists since they had committed acts of terror against India.

India has denied the report’s assertions, calling them “false and malicious.”

Tamba, who went by the moniker “copper-coated bullets,” was at his Islampura neighborhood home in Lahore on Sunday when the assailants showed up, according to police. When he answered the door, they opened fire at him from close range right away. After being taken to the hospital, Tamba passed away from his gunshot wounds.

After receiving a complaint from Tamba’s brother, Junaid Sarfraz, the police began looking into the two motorcycle riders, who had not been recognized. The Punjab government then sent the matter to the police’s counterterrorism unit, which is said to have connections to the ISI.

Tambam and his accomplice Mudasir Munir were charged with Sarabjit Singh’s murder in April 2013 at Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore. Sarabjit was attacked fatally with bricks and iron rods. On allegations of espionage and allegedly masterminding a string of explosions in 1990 that left 14 people dead in Lahore and Faisalabad, Singh was given the death penalty.

Two months had passed since the execution of Afzal Guru, who was found guilty of being the mastermind of the 2001 assault on the New Delhi Parliament.

Due to the retractions of testimony from all witnesses, Tamba and Munir were found not guilty of the murder of Singh by a Sessions Court in Lahore on December 14, 2018. As a result, the judge granted them freedom. Tamba, a 45-year-old single man, lived with his brothers. He was said to have deep connections to Hafiz Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, and worked as a spice trader.