445 Indians lodged in Pak jails: Govt

A total of 445 Indians, most of them fishermen, are currently lodged in jails in Pakistan, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday. In addition, 74 missing defence personnel, including 54 prisoners of war, are believed to be in Pakistani jails since 1971, Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh said, in written reply to a question.

He said 392 Indian fishermen and 53 other Indian civilian prisoners are currently lodged in Pakistan’s custody, adding the government regularly takes up with Islamabad the issue of their early release and repatriation.

On prisoners of war, Singh said Pakistan does not acknowledge their presence in its custody. The Minister said a total of 1262 Indian fishermen were arrested in foreign waters in 2015.

To a separate question, Singh said a total of 2,102 Indians were injured or killed in the last three years during various tragedies in foreign countries out of which 1,575 were brought back.