India returns body of man who died in custody

Lahore: An official said India has returned the body of a Pakistani man who died in custody "after accidentally crossing their border".

Colonel Tariq Janjua, a spokesman for Pakistani border guards, said relatives of Mohammad Akram, 34, received his body yesterday at Wagah border crossing.

He said Pakistani police later sent the body to a hospital for an autopsy.

Akram's brother, Mohammad Aslam, said his brother was mentally ill and had gone missing on February 9 from Kasur, a Pakistani town near the border. "Akram had mistakenly crossed the border," he said.

Aslam said officials informed the family two weeks earlier that Akram had been in Indian custody and had died at a hospital. The cause of death was unclear.