Lahore: The body of Pakistani national Muhammad Akram, who died in Amritsar jail on April 26, was handed over to Pakistani authorities at Wagah border on Saturday.

His brother, Muhammad Aslam, confirmed that the body was of his brother who had crossed into India by mistake near Kasur in February this year. Akram was suffering from acute schizophrenia. After Aslam identified the body, it was taken to a hospital in Lahore for post mortem examination. It will be handed over to his relatives.

Aslam said they had been informed that the body would reach at 10 a.m. but was delayed and reached the Wagah border at 2.15 p.m. Pakistan time. Akram, 35, was arrested on Feb 18 in Lopoke for travelling to India without any legal document. He was a patient of schizophrenia and other illnesses and was kept in the jail hospital. He died April 26 at the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar.

Aslam said that he and his family members had taken him to a mazaar (shrine) in Kasur where he was separated from them. A few days later he was found in Lopoke, near Amritsar, and arrested by Indian police. It is not yet clear how he managed to cross the border. Aslam said they had placed several ads in newspapers to trace their brother but no one contacted them.

He claimed that his brother "was tortured to death by the Indian authorities. I have seen marks on his face". According to officials who handed over the body to Pakistani security people at the border, no post-mortem examination of Akram has been carried out yet.

Source : IANS