Indian escapes a firing squad

Indian national Gurdip Singh, who was to be executed in Indonesia on Thursday night for smuggling drugs, escaped the gallows at the last minute.

India has been pressing for clemency for Singh and Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj was the first person to break the news on Twitter. Among those who had sought mercy for

Singh is wife Kulwinder Kaur, who said he had spent 14 yrs in jail, which was enough penance for his crime, if he was guilty.

"I spoke to him twice this morning and he said he is fine. His execution was dropped at the last minute after four others were put to death by the firing squad," Kaur said in Jalandhar.

According to sources, it is a temporary reprieve and MEA is exploring legal options to stall the execution altogether.

Gurdip Singh was convicted along with 13 others and was due to be executed at the

Nusa Kambangan prison island, known as Indonesia’s Alcatraz. These 14 prisoners had been told on Tuesday that they had just 72 hours to live. Four of them were not as lucky as Gurdip and were executed eve in torrential rain. It is still not clear why the execution of the ten others did not take place and sources said their fate will be determined later at an appropriate moment. A Pakistani national, Zulfiqar Ali, is among the 10 who were not executed. He was also convicted on drug-related charges. Gurdip Singh was arrested on August 29, 2004, at the Soekarno Hatta Airport in Jakarta for attempting to sneak in 300 grams of heroin. Incidentally, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights had also urged Indonesia on Wednesday to promptly stop the executions.