Sharif better off in jail — Pak Govt

He told reporters in Hyderabad that Sharif’s condition before his arrest was like a "pudding" but now "he should thank god on the reduction of his weight as otherwise he would have had a heart attack." "He is now looking like a handsome Kashmiri youth," English daily The News quoted Daudpota as saying.

Rejecting Sharif’s demand for `A’ class facilities in jail, the governor said he "was not an earning member of his family. He is not above the masses that he should be given `A’ class facilities." Daudpota said he (Sharif) was getting the same facilities as other detainees, besides which his family members were allowed to meet him.

Interior Secretary of Sindh, Nisar Siddiqui, who accompanied Daudpota, said Sharif and others had been given `B’ class facilities in jail according to the jail manual.

He said Sharif’s relatives are allowed to bring food for him and that his female relatives and lawyers are allowed to meet him almost everyday. Sharif had earlier alleged that he was being kept in a small and dirty cell full of mosquitoes and that he and his co-accused were being mentally tortured.

His family members and leaders of his Pakistan Muslim League (PML) party have alleged that Sharif and other co-accused in the plane hijacking case have been given raw treatment in prison and that Sharif had lost nearly 30 pounds during his one and a half months of detention.

Sharif, his brother and former Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and five others are facing charges of treason, attempted murder and hijacking for their role in refusing permission to a PIA plane carrying Army Chief Gen Pervez Musharraf and 200 other passengers to land at Karachi airport on October 12 despite running short of fuel.

The deposed premier along with his entire family had been put under detention following a coup on the same day but was later handed over to Karachi police in connection with the plane hijacking case initiated on the basis of a fir filed by the army.