Sarabjit Singh in coma,says Pak doctors

The death row convict Sarabjit Singh, A who was attacked by two Indian prisoners in a Lahore jail, is in A "coma", Pakistani doctors told Indian officials today. "Doctors attending to Sarabjit Singh informed the Indian officials A that he is in coma on ventilator and receiving IV drip," External A Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said. "The officials of India's High Commission in Islamabad obtain access A to Sarabjit in the ICU of Jinnah hospital, Lahore at 2:00 am," he said.

Earlier, India has sought consular access to the 49-year-old Sarabjit. The attack occurred when the victim and other prisoners were brought A out of their cells for an hour-long break. The two prisoners assaulted A Sarabjit with blunt objects and he sustained a severe head injury. Sarabjit was initially taken to the hospital within the prison. A After his condition worsened, he was moved in an ambulance to the A state-run hospital, officials in Lahore said.

Sarabjit was convicted for alleged involvement in a string of bomb A attacks in Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990. His mercy petitions were rejected by the courts and former President A Pervez Musharraf. The outgoing Pakistan Peoples Party-led government put off Sarabjit's A execution for an indefinite period in 2008. Sarabjit's family says he is the victim of mistaken identity and A had inadvertently strayed across the border in an inebriated state.