Flashback for 'spy' who came in from cold

Kolkata: While watching 'Sarbjit' at a city theatre, Mehboob Elahi tried to recall his days in Pakistan and connect the story to his own life - Elahi served 19 years in Pakistani jails and in one of them he met the actual Sarabjit Singh.
Elahi now works in a restaurant in Chennai. Elahi had worked with Indian agencies in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 before shifting base to Pakistan.With the help of a relative, he got a job in the Pakistan army. While returning to Lahore from Kolkata on 23 June,1977, where Elahi met his ailing mother, he was arrested for espionage.
His ordeal started immediately after his arrest from Lakshmichowk in Lahore. He used to be tied to ice slabs for hours, or even hung from ceiling fans. He was even thrown among fierce dogs. "But the worst was when they burnt my chest and neck. They would not allow me to sleep or sit down and made me stand for days and nights. They beat me up whenever I tried to sit. I was also not allowed to offer prayers on Eid."
But the celluloid portrayal of the prison surprises him. "The prison shown in the film is not a typical Pakistani jail. Can a prisoner on death row make tea in his cell?" he asks.
Elahi was first confined in Kotlakpat jail in Lahore and then shifted to Lyallpur jail In Faisalabad. After that, he was at Karachi. He had also been in Hyderabad central jail and in Khairpur jail. As he had repeatedly pleaded for release after his 14-year prison term was over, he was successively placed with Khairpur jail, Lahore jail's ISI cell, Gujranwala and Raulpindi jails before he could appear before the board which heard cases of Indian detainees. Finally on December 1, 1996, he was released from Karachi central jail.
Though Elahi was sentenced to 14 years' rigorous imprisonment, his trauma continued till he was released by Pakistan's Chief Justice Nasim Hussain Shah in December 1996. He appealed to different human rights organisations for release and was eventually pushed back into India by rangers along with 14 other Indians. Entering India without any documents, Barmer court had started proceedings of infiltration, but it quashed it in May, 2000.
"I met two Indian prisoners at Gujranwala jail - Sarabjit and Malkiat Singh - both from Punjab. But I am clueless about Malkiat Singh. I don't know if he is alive or dead," Elahi said, adding that he had met Sarabjit's sister Dalbir too. "I met Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in Lahore's Kotlakpat jail and an officer had asked me to kill him, promising my release. But I refused." He was in the same jail as Bhutto's daughter and son-in-law in Karachi.
However, after returning to Kolkata, Elahi had been working for Indian agencies and had helped nab some dreaded terrorists. He had even gone to Nepal to track an ISI agent. But after all the help he has provided, he is yet to get any financial help from any government. He had written to several senior Indian officials, including the President, for monetary support. He had also staged protests twice in front of Jantar Mantar, but has not received any help.