The Ministry of External Affairs has asked India’s envoy in Pakistan too look into the death of an Indian national, Kirpal Singh, who was in Pakistan’s Kot Lakhpat jail. Pakistani authorities said Singh complained of chest pain and was taken to hospital, where he was declared dead. Members of his family protested at the Attari-Wagah border on Tuesday, claiming that he had been murdered, and asked for his body to be handed over to them to be cremated. India has asked its acting high commissioner in Pakistan to transfer Singh’s remains to India as soon as possible.

Singh was in jail for almost 25 years on charges of spying. He was arrested after he allegedly crossed into Pakistan in 1992. He was sentenced to death in a bomb blasts case in Pakistan’s Punjab province, and his sentence was later commuted to 20 years in prison. Despite repeated pleas from his family, Singh was never released from prison.

Singh’s sister Jagir Kaur (pictured above) was joined in her protest by the sister of Sarabjit Singh, an Indian national convicted of spying who was also sentenced to death. Sarabjit Singh was attacked and killed by inmates at Kot Lakhpat prison in 2013. Families of both men have asked for investigations into their deaths. Jagir Kaur is likely to meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday, ANI reported.