The Hindu : Front Page : Samjhauta: India to pay compensation

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Monday, Jul 02, 2007
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Samjhauta: India to pay compensation

Nirupama Subramanian

ISLAMABAD: India will make compensation payments to 27 legal heirs representing 33 Pakistani victims of the Samjhauta Express tragedy, here on July 5.

An Indian diplomat here said a compensation of Rs.10 lakh for each of the persons who died in the firebomb attack on the train, will be handed over to their legal next of kin.

At a press conference in Lahore on Saturday, Pakistan Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid complained that India had neither compensated the victims of the Samjhauta tragedy nor had it shared the progress in the investigations into the attack with Pakistan.

The High Commission official said the Indian Government made on-the-spot payments ranging from Rs.15,000 to Rs.1 lakh to the victims at the time of tragedy, and would pay out the rest of the compensation package here on Thursday

As many as 68 people were killed in the attack. Of these, 41 were identified as Pakistani nationals.

The official said that in 33 cases, the legal heirs had been ascertained, while a process was under way to identify them for the remaining seven victims.

In Pakistani rupees, the package works out to Rs. 14 lakh for the kin of the each of the dead, and Rs.21,000 for every injured person.

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