Last rites of Sarabjit Singh are being performed with full state honours at his native place Bhikiwind in Punjab, shortly.

A large crowd gathered there to join the funeral procession. Earlier, the body of Sarabjit Singh, who died after a brutal attack by inmates in a Pakistani jail, was last night handed over to his family after the post-mortem.

A contingent of Punjab Police led by SSP Tarn-Taran, Raj Jeet Singh handed over Sarabjit's body to his family at Bikhiwind village.

Punjab government has announced a financial assistance of one crore rupees for the family of Sarabjit and declared a three-day state mourning. The Centre also announced ex-gratia payment of 25 lakh rupees for Sarabjit's family from Prime Minister's Relief Fund.

External Affairs Minsitry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said, India never considered Sarabjit guilty of the charges imposed on him by Pakistan.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said, there is an extreme level of sadness throughout the country over the issue and the government will provide all support to the family of the deceased prisoner.

BJP has asked the UPA government to severe bilateral ties with Pakistan in the wake of brutal murder of Sarabjit Singh. Party spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain demanded the recall of the Indian High Commissioner from Islamabad.

The Home Ministry has issued advisory to all states asking them to step up security of all Pakistani prisoners lodged in their respective jails.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, HRCP has demanded action against all those who played role in the assault on Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who died in a Lahore hospital on Wednesday.

The HRCP called upon Islamabad and New Delhi to take urgent measures to prevent the incident from undermining bilateral ties and to improve the lot of detainees from the other country in each other’s prisons.