Family's anger at Labour over son held captive

LABOUR has been accused of putting a trade deal ahead of the safety of a British man held captive for eight years in India, as his family blasted the latest high-profile meeting.

- BY RICHARD ASHMORE

Jagtar Singh Johal, 38, was arrested in India in 2017 shortly after getting married there.

UN legal experts say he was targeted because of his activism highlighting human rights abuses against the country's Sikh community.

His family from Dumbarton near Glasgow have campaigned tirelessly against his imprisonment.

They fear for his safety after he was moved to the violent Tihar Prison in the capital New Delhi last month.

But after meeting Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper this week to discuss his case, they fear they are no nearer to getting him back.

Labour has had two major chances to press for Jagtar's release since coming to power in July last year.

The first was when Jagtar was cleared in March in a case in which he was accused of financially supporting a terror group.

And the second came when Sir Keir Starmer travelled to India in October to meet prime minister Narendra Modi to secure a much-trumpeted trade deal.

The Foreign Office told the Daily Express the case had again been raised by Sir Keir at that point.