Sarabjit’s sister Dalbir Kaur with his photograph outside the PMO in New Delhi on Sunday. (PTI)

March 16: Sarabjit Singh, the alleged Indian spy jailed in Pakistan for over 17 years, will be hanged on April 1, a jail official in Lahore said today.

Although Islamabad’s confirmation is awaited, Shabbar Khan, deputy superintendent of the jail, told The Telegraph that Sarabjit’s death warrant or “black warrant” had arrived. If a last-minute appeal for mercy fails, Sarabjit will be hanged on April 1, a jail official said.

On March 3, President Pervez Musharraf had rejected Sarabjit’s mercy petition.

The plea was sent along with that of Kashmir Singh, another Indian who was freed recently after 35 years on death row in Pakistan.

Kashmir Singh’s release had raised hopes that Sarabjit would also get clemency. But it was later learnt that Musharraf had found Sarabjit’s case totally different from Kashmir Singh’s.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court, too, had rejected Sarabjit’s clemency plea in 2006.

Sarabjit, who Pakistan claims is a spy called Manjit Singh, was sentenced to death for involvement in bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan that killed about 14 people in 1990.

His family denies Sarabjit is a spy and insists that he had strayed into Pakistan from Punjab in a drunken state.

Following the rejection of his plea by the Pakistan President, the interior ministry had asked the provincial government of Punjab to take steps to carry out the death sentence.

However, Ansar Burney, Pakistan’s caretaker human rights minister, declined to confirm reports of the death warrant. “I don’t understand how a black warrant can be issued on a Sunday, a holiday in Pakistan,” he said.

“I have no information on the matter. I will contact the home ministry… as soon as their office opens tomorrow morning and enquire when the warrant, if any, was issued. The only information I have is a news strip on a private TV channel claiming that the jail authorities in Lahore have received his death warrant and he is likely to be hanged soon,” Burney, who was instrumental in getting Kashmir Singh released, said from Islamabad.

Sarabjit’s lawyer Rana Abdul Hamid also expressed surprise at the report of the black warrant. “Earlier reports on Musharraf rejecting Sarabjit’s mercy petition have still not been confirmed. As (I am) his lawyer, it is mandatory for the government to have informed me about the so-called rejection,” Hamid said from Lahore.

He said Islamabad would also have to inform Delhi since “the Indian government has admitted Sarabjit to be its citizen”.

Sarabjit’s sister Dalbir Kaur, fighting in Delhi for her brother’s release, was in tears. “Nobody seems to have any answer. I have heard the Pakistan home secretary has confirmed it (the death warrant). Have you heard anything?” she asked reporters.

Sarabjit’s daughter Poonam said she wanted to see her father. “They say he will be executed by April 1. Will I have to live my life without having a glimpse of my father?”

BJP chief Rajnath Singh has asked the Prime Minister to intervene immediately to save Sarabjit’s life.