Don't know Capt Kalia died of Pak bullet or weather: Malik

As a debate raged over torture of Kargil martyr Captain Saurabh Kalia by Pakistan army, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik today said he was not aware whether he "died of a Pak bullet or weather".

The Supreme Court earlier today sought a response from the Centre the plea of the Kargil martyr's father N K Kalia seeking its direction to the government for raising the case of his son's torture at the International Court of Justice. His mutilated body was handed over to Indian army during the 1999 conflict.

"I have not examined the case. It has just come to my notice. I will be very happy to see the father of the boy, the father of the soldier, and I will shake hand and will like to know what has happened exactly.

"And especially when a fight is going on in the border, we really don't know whether he died of a Pak bullet or he died of weather?," Malik told reporters on his arrival here.

Captain Kalia of 4 Jat had led the first team which reported intrusion in the Kargil Sector by the Pakistani soldiers. During the reconnaissance, he along with five others were captured on May 15, 1999.

After 20 days, their severely mutilated bodies were handed over to India.
The autopsy report revealed extreme ante-mortem torture which included cigarette burns, piercing of ear drums with hot iron rods and amputated vital organs.

Malik said, "Whenever any human being dies nobody would hesitate to say sorry for that.

"When there is war, bullet doesn't see who is there? ...You see the situation there (Kargil), and that is why you see the statement of President of Pakistan and also the vision of your Prime Minister. What we want is peace. So, we don't want these things to be repeated. That's why I am here, that's why we will work," he said at the airport.

The Interior Minister, who is on a three-day visit to India, said he was working for peace.