India's Supreme Court ordered Thursday a search for a soldier missing since the country's last war with Pakistan in 1971, after his wife insisted her husband was being held in prison over the border. The court ordered the foreign ministry and India's border guards to launch a fresh hunt for paramilitary soldier Surjit Singh who was declared killed in action after he went missing in December 1971 during the 17-day war. "The authorities shall continue efforts to find out the actual position (of him)," said judges Arijit Pasayat and S.H. Kapadia in a written verdict.
Singh, who was a member of India's Border Security Force, is believed to have died in the eastern sector, the main theatre of the battle which finally led to the creation of Bangladesh.
The Indian government listed Singh as dead and paid a pension to his wife Angerj Kaur, who has suspected all along that her husband was alive and held in jail in Pakistan.
Her suspicion turned to conviction when an Indian, Khushi Mohammad, on his release last year from a Pakistani prison said he recognised Singh from his photograph and that the trooper was languishing behind bars.
Two more Indians released from Pakistani jails also recognised Singh from his photograph and when Kaur's appeals to Indian authorities fell on deaf ears she petitioned the Supreme Court, lawyers said.
At least 54 Indian prisoners of war are officially listed as held in Pakistani prisons.
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