R&AW left me to rot in Pak jail: Gopal Das
April 08, 2011 12:44 IST
Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing has denied any links with Gopal Das, who was released from a jail in Pakistan on Thursday after 27 years.
In an interview with rediff.com over phone from his village Behni Mianwali Khan in Gurdaspur district, Gopal had claimed that he had gone to 'Pakistan as a R&AW agent on the night of July 26/27 in 1984'.
"I crossed into Pakistan via Ranbir Singh Pura, but was immediately caught by the Pakistani rangers," Gopal Das said.
After he was picked up, a case of espionage was registered against him. He was subjected to intense interrogation for next 35 months in Sialkot sector of Pakistan.
"You know what interrogation means and what all they can do to you," he said.
Once convicted, he was sent to Multan jail where he spent a major part of his life. He was later shifted to two other jails.
"When Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari waived off my jail term, I was lodged in Kot Lakhpat jail where Sarabjit Singh is also being held for engineering bomb blasts. However, I could not meet him because he was kept in the high-security area. After I came to know about my release from a newspaper report, I called up my elder brother and told him that I will be released on April 7, 2011," he said.
He thanked the Indian Supreme Court, advocate Arvind Kumar Singh and his elder brother Anand Vir for securing his release.
"The government of India did not do anything to secure my release. But for my elder brother Anand Vir, advocate Arvind Kumar Singh and the honourable Supreme court of India, I would have still be rotting in Pakistani jails. The agencies, which hire you, disown you the moment you are arrested. The Indian high commission in Pakistan did not help either. They took their own sweet time for giving me temporary travel documents," he said.
Onkar Singh in New Delhi
