Heroin smuggler Gurdip Singh spared by Indonesia

Indian convict Gurdip Singh was spared on Thursday night when Indonesia executed four, including three foreigners, for drug crimes. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted: "Indian Ambassador in Indonesia has informed me that Gurdip Singh, whose execution was fixed for Thursday night, has not been executed." Indonesian officials did not give a reason for the reprieve, but said 10 more convicts would be executed at a later stage. The prison island where they were expected to be executed in outdoor clearings was hit by a major storm as the other sentences were carried out. Duped by an agent into paying for what he believed was a work visa in New Zealand, Gurdip Singh, 48, was allegedly abandoned mid-journey in Indonesia. He was convicted of smuggling heroin in 2004. Swaraj had phoned his family in Punjab on Thursday to reassure them that she is doing her best to save him.