'Life sentence in Sri Lanka means spending the whole life in jail. The prisoners are suffering from various mental and physical problems,' he said.

Referring to the statement tabled in the Lok Sabha July 8 by External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, in which he said Sri Lanka had 33 male and four female Indian prisoners, Basheer said the number is much more than this.

The government should intervene immediately to make their release possible, he said.