The government has denied that Surjeet Singh, the Indian prisoner who has just returned from Pakistan, had been sent by intelligence agencies to that country for espionage. Union Home Secretary, Raj Kumar Singh said at a press conference in New Delhi that it is completely wrong to say that Surjeet Singh was a spy.

He was replying to a question on Surjeet's claim that he was sent to Pakistan by an Indian intelligence agency for espionage. He said, if someone is claiming that he was a spy, he is doing so just to get importance or for some other reasons. On being asked about the ill treatment meted out to Indian prisoners in Pakistan, the Home Secretary said, the government has taken note of it.