Indian national Sarabjit Singh was in a “deep coma” and put on ventilator support after being assaulted by a group of prisoners in a Pakistani jail.

Doctors attending on him today said that they will not be able to perform surgery on him till his condition stabilises. Official sources said, doctors were unable to perform surgery on him on Friday because of extensive internal bleeding caused by a severe head injury.

Sarabjit, 49, was in an Intensive Care Unit of the state-run Jinnah Hospital in Lahore, where he was admitted on Friday after being brutally beaten by at least six other prisoners within his barrack at the Kot Lakhpat Jail.

External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said, the officials of India's High Commission in Islamabad obtained access to Sarabjit in the ICU of Jinnah hospital in Lahore this morning. Sarabjit was initially taken to the hospital within the prison on Friday. After his condition worsened, he was shifted to Jinnah hospital.

Sarabjit was hit on the head with bricks and his face, neck and stomach were cut with blades and sharp pieces of a tin. Kot Lakhpat Jail authorities have ordered an inquiry into the incident.