HE is the government minister taking a “personal interest” in the case of the Scot held without charge in India for more than two and a half years.

But almost two months after the Dumbarton family of Jagtar Singh Johal made an urgent plea for online talks, Foreign Office Minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon still hasn’t set a date, The National can reveal.

Jagtar Singh Johal was taken from the street by plain clothes officers in the Punjab region in November 2017.

He was shopping with his wife of two weeks at the time and, when the officers did not declare their identities, his family feared he had been kidnapped.

Since then, he has allegedly been subjected to electric shocks and other torture and is still awaiting trial for allegedly helping to finance the killings of right-wing Hindu figures and funding a proscribed group.

No evidence has yet been led against the 33-year-old internet marketer, and his family believe he was wrongly targeted by authorities due to his nationality, Sikh ethnicity, and blogging activities on a site which documents the Hindu-on-Sikh violence which killed thousands in 1984.

The prisoner, known to supporters as Jaggi, is further alleged to have used the internet to radicalise others.

He is currently being held in the massive Tihar jail and his family have not been allowed to see him since September.

His solicitor brother, Gurpreet Singh Johal, is heading efforts to free the keep-fit fan and is desperate for concrete evidence about his welfare and condition.

The family has repeatedly accused the UK Government of failing Jagtar and putting trade with India before his human rights – something denied by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Ahmad, Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth, was said to have taken a “personal interest” in the case as far back as October.

Jagtar’s family has made repeated approaches seeking a meeting, and two months ago Ahmad said he would do so “once social distancing restrictions in the UK have been lifted”.

But though Gurpreet sought an “urgent Skype/Zoom meeting” to get around problems caused by the pandemic, no date has yet been set.

He said: “I have had to continue to chase for a meeting with Lord Ahmad.

“They were supposed to come back to me with availability, they have not given me anything at all.”

Meanwhile, support for the Scot has snowballed, with more than 38,000 people signing a “Free Jaggi Now” petition on the change.org website. The total is more than double the population of Jagtar’s West Dunbartonshire home town and Gurpreet attributes it to recent commemorations of the 1984 violence.

Material circulated this year includes images sourced by Jagtar prior to his arrest.

Gurpreet said: “There is massive support around the world. The amount of people who have commented is unbelievable.”

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said the virtual meeting would be held “in the coming weeks”.

A spokesperson said it is in regular contact with Jagtar and his family and is “active in raising concerns with the Indian authorities, including his unresolved torture allegations and his right to a fair trial”.

A statement added: “Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon has written to the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs to request an update on this case.”