THE family of a frail grandad who was jailed in India for drugs offences fear he will die in prison after his appeal failed.

Ismail Mitha, 69, is said to be devastated when a Gujarat court threw out his appeal after prosecution lawyers claimed they had been offered bribes.

Mr Mitha, nine years into an 11-year sentence, is seriously ill with heart trouble and his family - from Pleckgate, Whalley Range and Revidge in Blackburn - are worried his spirit has been quashed after waiting four years for the hearing.

International pressure group Fair Trials Abroad earlier claimed Mr Mitha, a British citizen of 37 years, was framed by a "corrupt" Hindu police force that targeted him because he was a Muslim.

Today, the group's director, solicitor Stephen Jakobi, revealed his astonishment at the latest development. He said: "I think it is shameful that an allegation of bribery has not been followed up with some evidence. It is amazing it was not substantiated."

Mr Mitha's daughter, Ruksana Mitha, 34, of Pleckgate, added: "We are back to square one. We are at a stage where we don't know what to do.

"My father is so frustrated and his health is deteriorating further. We are very worried about him.

"He was very optimistic about the appeal but now is very low."

Mr Mitha and his wife Amina, 70, divided their time between England and India, where the couple looked after a disabled relative.

In 1995, they returned to England for a wedding but headed back to India after receiving an urgent message that ethnic tensions had flared up in their Gujarati village.

Soon after, a dozen drugs charges were brought against them, relating to the many different places police claimed to find cannabis around the property they were lodging at in Gujarat. It took almost five years for a trial to be concluded, during which time the couple were held in custody.

Mrs Mitha was cleared of all 12 charges but cannot leave the country because prosecutors appealed.

Mr Mitha was found guilty of possessing the cannabis police claimed to have found under a mattress, even though no one could verify its discovery.

He has already had two heart by-pass operations, one while in prison that the family paid for, and needs another urgently as his left renal artery is said to be 80 per cent blocked.