Lahore: Two Pakistani death row prisoners accused of involvement in the murder of Indian national Sarabjit Singh were assaulted by wardens of Kot Lakhpat Jail here, official sources said on Saturday. The prisoners — Amer Tamba and Mudassar — misbehaved with a warden during a search of their cell on Thursday. The warden called in more personnel and thrashed them. Following the incident, both men and some other death row prisoners went on hunger strike for a day. A senior official of Kot Lakhpat Jail's administration said that cell phones had been found in the possession of Tamba and Mudassar.

"They were admonished, and not tortured for this," he said, refuting reports that they were beaten up. An inquiry was underway to ascertain how the prisoners got the mobile phones into their high-security barrack, he said. "The matter was handled according to jail laws and the prisoners did not go on hunger strike," the official claimed. Meanwhile, a judicial inquiry to ascertain how Tamba and Mudassar got possession of sharp edged "tools" to attack Sarabjit in April is underway but its findings are yet to come to light. On May 2, Sarabjit succumbed to fatal head injuries allegedly inflicted by Tamba, Mudassar and some other prisoners.