SCOTLAND'S First Minister has urged the UK Foreign Secretary to personally meet the family of a Dumbarton man who has been held in India for almost four years.

Nicola Sturgeon wrote to Dominic Raab asking him to hold face-to-face talks with the family of Jagtar Singh Johal.

Mr Johal, known as Jaggi, was taken away by police just two weeks after travelling from Scotland to India for his wedding in October 2017, and has been in detention ever since.

Mr Johal's brother Gurpreet met Ms Sturgeon earlier this month to seek her support for the campaign to free Jaggi.

READ MORE: Charity issues fresh appeal for Dumbarton man's release from high security Indian prison

The BBC is reporting that Jaggi has been accused along with others of being a member of the Khalistan Liberation Front (KLF) and of being involved in the killings of right-wing Hindu leaders.

According to the BBC's report, Mr Johal is accused of paying £3,000 to the former head of the KLF to help fund the crimes, and that he "actively participated and had complete knowledge of the conspiracy".

He could face a death sentence under India's anti-terror laws if found guilty of the charges against him.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office told the BBC it had "consistently raised our concerns" about Mr Johal's case with the Indian government, and that while in-person consular visits were suspended because of the pandemic, staff from the UK consulate in Delhi "have regular telephone calls with Mr Johal in lieu of visits".

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