India anger over Sarabjit Singh attack in Pakistan jail Published duration 27 April 2013

image caption The attack sparked angry protests in Jammu, Indian-administered Kashmir

There have been protests in India after an attack in a Pakistani prison left convicted Indian spy Sarabjit Singh in a coma.

Singh, a high-profile prisoner on death row for more than 21 years, was attacked by inmates armed with bricks in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail on Friday.

Singh is in intensive care with severe head injuries. Two inmates have been charged and two officials suspended.

Indian PM Manmohan Singh described the attack as "very sad".

Former foreign minister SM Krishna said a strong protest should be lodged with Pakistan.

He said such conduct should not happen "in a civilised world".

Protests erupted in the city of Jammu, in Indian-administered Kashmir.

One protester, Chetan Sharma, told Reuters: "This was a conspiracy to kill Sarabjit Singh in which they have meted out inhuman treatment to him. This was well planned by Pakistan."

'All alone'

A doctor at Lahore's Jinnah hospital told Agence France-Presse news agency: "Singh's condition is critical with multiple wounds on his head, abdomen, jaws and other body parts, and he has been put on ventilator."

India's government informed Sarabjit Singh's family that Pakistan had granted visas for four family members to visit.

His sister, Dalbir Kaur, told AFP: "We want to be with Sarabjit in this difficult time. He is all alone."

Sarabjit Singh was reportedly attacked as he and other prisoners were brought out of their cells for a one-hour break.

Two prisoners have been charged with attempted murder.

The BBC's Jill McGivering says that over the years the Singh case has been raised at the highest political levels and his fate has often seemed caught up with the broader relationship between India and Pakistan.

Sarabjit Singh was convicted of spying for India and involvement in a series of bomb blasts in 1990 in which 14 people died.

His family say he is innocent and merely strayed across the border in Punjab by accident.

Tensions have increased in the past six months with the execution in India of Kashmiri Afzul Guru over the attack on India's parliament 11 years ago and of Mohammed Ajmal Qasab, the sole surviving attacker from the 2008 Mumbai attacks.