IN DEATH, ‘SPY’ GETS RELIEF HE WAS LONG DENIED
It’s after his death that Karamat Rahi, who had remained in a Pakistani jail for 17 years on spying charge, has been able to get an assurance from the government, promising financial relief to his family and job for his son. Rahi died after prolonged illness on Wednesday, but his family refused to bury his body till the government fulfilled their demand.
BATALA: It’s after his death that Karamat Rahi, 70, who had remained in a Pakistani jail for 17 years on the charge of spying, has been able to get a written assurance from the government, promising financial relief to his family and job for his son.
Rahi died at an Amritsar hospital after prolonged illness on Wednesday, but his family refused to bury his body till the government fulfilled their demand. Earlier, even courts had rejected Rahi’s plea for compensation and a job for his kin as he had failed to provide proof of engaging in covert activities across the border.
Following the family’s protestation, however, the district administration finally produced a written assurance on Thursday, and last rites of Rahi were performed at his native village, Khera Kalan.
Rahi came into contact with an intelligence agency in 1983 and after two years of training, he was sent across the border a number of times, his son Ranjeet told HT.
The last time he infiltrated into Pakistan was in 1988. On July 26 that year, he was caught by the army in Lahore and sentenced to 14 years in jail, said Ranjeet. “Despite serving his term, my father was not released. It was after the then CM Capt Amarinder Singh’s intervention that he returned home in 2005,” he said.
After his return, Rahi kept fighting to get compensation for his sacrifice, but to no avail. Feeling betrayed, he filed a petition in the high court, but it was rejected. He was asked to pay a fine for wasting the court’s time. A fresh Supreme Court appeal bore no result as he was asked to provide proof of his covert activities. “Intelligence agencies recruit spies selling them dreams of getting prosperous. They are promised both money and security, but once a spy gets arrested, everything is forgotten,” said Ranjeet.
For the past couple of months, Rahi was not keeping well. “I borrowed more than `1.5 lakh from my relatives for my father’s treatment. On Wednesday, he breathed his last at Guru Ramdas Hospital in Amritsar,” said Ranjeet. When Batala SDM Saurav Arora got to know about the case, he rushed to meet them. But couldn’t convince them. The deadlock was broken when the additional deputy commissioner (general) gave them a written assurance and a government job for Ranjeet.