RAW spy urges Central Government for compsensation

Rajkot, July 24 (UNI) Om Prakash Gulabram, a member of RAW's military intelligence who had been languishing in a Pakistan Jail from July 1999 to December 23, 2006, has urged the Central Government for compensation.

Talking to newspersons here today, in presence of Human Rights activist Adv M K Paul, Mr Gulabram alleged that his family members had not received a single rupee in compensation from the RAW nor from the Union Government while he was in the Pakistan jail. Despite his representations to Ministry of Defence and Record Office Faizabad in UP, he has neither received compensation nor pension, he claimed.

A resident of Jagiyal in Kathua district of J&K, Mr Gulabram (67) said he was arrested on July 6, 1999 while crossing the Sialkot border.

He said he was severely beaten and tortured and was subjected to repeated electric shocks. As a result, one of his legs and a hand have been renderred useless, he said. He even had difficulty in talking.

He said he had joined the Dogra Regiment of the Indian Army as a soldier on November 19, 1962, and had participated in the 1965 Indo-Pak war in the Sialkot sector. During the war, he was seriously injured. Mr Gulabram said he was discharged from duty and sent home in January 1969.

Later, he had joined Military Intelligence in 1988. ''I was sent to Pakistan at least 25 times as a spy. My name was changed to Sher Khan,'' he said. He claimed that during his service, he had supplied valuable information. He said he had served jail terms in Sialkot, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Kotlahkpat.

He said other Indian spies who were with him in Kotlakhpat Jail -- Kashmir Singh, Sarabjit Singh, Sulkha Singh, and Kirpla Singh -- were awarded capital punishment, while four others -- Surajdin, Kuldip Kumar, Kuldip Singh and Butta Singh -- were awarded 25 years sentence.

Adv Paul, said he had pursued the compensation matter with the National Human Rights Commision which has directed the Central Government to pay compensation to family members of 16 Indian spies who had languished in Pakistan jails.

UNI