Jadhav, not the Ist Indian to be tried, condemned to death by Pakistan

Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian citizen arrested by Pakistani forces and given a death sentence by a Pakistani military court on the charges of espionage, is not the first Indian to be tried and condemned to death by Pakistan.

Jadhav, son of a senior Mumbai Police officer and a former Indian Naval officer, is just a fresh addition to the list of Indian nationals accused, tried and convicted of spying and given a death sentence by Pakistan.

Here are five Indians who were executed by our neighbour and their backstories:

Kashmir Singh:

Kashmir Singh, an ex Army man, was arrested in 1973 in Pakistan on charges of espionage and smuggling. But Pakistan couldn't prove any of the charges levelled against him.

Subsequently, in the same year, Kashmir Singh was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court. But somewhere in the late 1980s his execution was stayed by the Pakistan government and instead Kashmir Singh was then sentenced to an indefinite jail term.

In 2008, however, the human rights activist and then minister Ansar Burney spotted Kashmir Singh during his visit to the Lahore jail. Ansar Burney took up Kashmir Singh's case with the Pakistan government and pleaded to release him on humanitarian grounds considering Kashmir Singh spent 35 years in prison.

Following this, Parvez Musharraf, the then President of Pakistan, accepted Kashmir Singh's mercy petition and ordered for his release and repatriation to India.

Singh was just 32 years old when he got arrested in Rawalpindi.

Ravindra Kaushik:

A famous theatre artist, the supposed inspiration behind the bollywood movie Ek Tha Tiger, India's intelligence agency RAW hired Ravindra Kaushik for his acting skills. He was trained extensively for two years and he even underwent circumcision to pass as a Muslim.

In 1975, Kaushik was sent to Pakistan under an alias, where he managed to infiltrate into the Pakistan Army as a civilian clerk. Later Ravindra Kaushik also worked with the military records department. He even married a local girl and fathered a son with her.

During his stint with the Pakistan Army, Kaushik passed on valuable and confidential information to RAW.

In September 1983, an unfortunate event removed Kaushik's facade. India sent a low level operative to get in touch with Ravindra Kaushik in Pakistan, but he got caught by the Pakistan intelligence agencies and during the interrogation, he revealed Kaushik's true identity.

Owing to the revelation, Ravindra Kaushik was sentenced to death in 1985. But later, Pakistan Supreme Court commuted the death sentence to life in prison.

However, in the year 1999, he contracted pulmonary tuberculosis and died in the prison.

Sheikh Shamim:

Not much information is available about this alleged spy but according to Pakistani news reports, Sheikh Shamim was caught red-handed during an operation for RAW near the Pakistan-India border. He was hanged by the Pakistan authorities in 1999.

Surjeet Singh:

Surjeet Singh went missing near the border in Ferozepur sector in 1982 and was held by Pakistan Intelligence service accusing him of spying.

In 1985, a Pakistan court sentenced him to death under the Pakistan Army Act. Nonetheless, in 1989, the death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan.

Moreover, his release came in the midst of the controversy over the release of Sarabjit Singh.

Sarabjit Singh:

Till date, he is the most known and talked about Indian convict in Pakistan, charged with terrorism and espionage. The Supreme Court of Pakistan convicted him of a series of bomb blasts in Lahore and Faisalabad. But Sarabjit Singh, till his last breath, claimed that he is a farmer and strayed across the border from his village located on the border.

In 1991, he got condemned to death by the Lahore High Court. Withal, his sentence was postponed repeatedly and in 2013, he succumbed to his injuries after an attack by his fellow jail inmates.

A Bollywood movie, based on his life, in his name, was made last year with Randeep Hooda playing Sarabjit Singh, and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan essaying the role of Sarabjit's sister.