Islamabad, July 1
India will pay a compensation ranging from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 45 lakh to relatives of 27 Pakistanis, who died in the Samjhauta Express blasts on July 5.
Preliminary compensation to the tune of Rs 50,000 has already been paid to the relatives of the victims, an Indian High Commission official here said, reacting to allegations by Pakistan railway minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed that New Delhi had not paid any compensation to the Pakistani victims of the Samjhautha Express tragedy.
More compensation would be paid to 27 relatives of 33 Pakistani passengers, who were killed in the bomb attack in the train, senior Indian diplomat Suresh K Reddy told PTI.
The compensation for the identified relatives would be paid on July 5, he added. Rana Shaukat, who lost five children in the tragedy, would receive the maximum compensation of Rs 45 lakh, he said.
Already, the Indian Government had paid Rs 50,000 compensation to the survivors immediately after the incident as well as Rs 15,000 to the injured passengers. Pakistan, too, has paid Rs 5 lakh compensation to the families of each of those died in the tragedy.
Reddy said India was trying to identify relatives of seven or eight other passengers who died in the train tragedy. Once the identities were established they too would be paid compensation, he said.
— PTI
