By IANS,
New Delhi : A British AIDS patient, serving a 10 year term for drug peddling in the Tihar jail here since 2004, was to fly back Thursday to his country and spend the remaining years of his sentence in a prison there. However, his journey has been delayed by a month, officials said.
The AIDS patient has been lodged in the capital’s high security Tihar jail since Aug 31, 2004 on charges of drug peddling. He was awarded a 10 year jail term on Nov 2, 2006.
According to official sources, around four months ago he had written to the home ministry requesting that he be sent back to Britain.
“I want to die in my homeland. I can serve the rest of my imprisonment in my country’s jail. Please send me,” he had pleaded in his letter.
His request was accepted under an agreement on the transfer of sentenced prisoners, which was signed by Home Minster Shivraj Patil and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in 2005.
The convict was due to fly back Thursday but his travel has been postponed by a month due to “administrative reasons”.
“Earlier in the day we have received a fax from the central government that he could not to be flown out of the country due to administrative reasons. The fax said no escort is available to fetch him,” said a Tihar jail official.
“The convict, who is dying of AIDS, was informed in the morning. He seemed shocked and could not believe that his travel has been postponed by over a month. After hearing the news he went to his cell and remained speechless,” the official added.
Jail officials said he probably had an intuition that he would not survive long and wanted to breath his last in his motherland.