Amritsar, June 11
In a surprise raid, the District Magistrate and district police chief today claimed to have foiled an attempt of another jailbreak in the high-security Amritsar Central Jail where many foreigners, including Pakistani nationals, are lodged.
The undertrials lodged in barrack number 10 of the jail were allegedly enjoying the ‘facilities’ which are available in five-star hotels. The District Magistrate, Mr Raminder Singh, and the SSP, Mr Kultar Singh, claimed that the raid was conducted following a tip off. They seized drugs, smack etc kept in violation of jail manual. The material found in the barrack included sharp instruments, including hammers, cutters and handy saw etc meant for cutting iron bars of the jail. However, it is alleged that the raid was conducted at the behest of a senior politician of the ruling party.
An official press note stated that barrack number 10 belonging to the undertrials lodged in connection with the sensational killing of an Akali leader Gurdial Singh Algon Kothi and six others in Bhikhiwind in which the name of a Congress minister also figured in the FIR.
Earlier, the SP, Mr Harmanbir Singh Gill, who is the younger brother of Mr Jasbir Singh Dimpa, a Congress MLA, had allegedly submitted a report about the chinks in
the Central jail on January 22 this year. However, the relatives of late Gurdial Singh had alleged that the inquiry conducted by Mr Gill was conducted to settle political scores with the family.
In his report, Mr Gill had apprehended that any untoward incident could happen if “tainted” jail officials were not transferred. Mr Gill had reported that some jail mates were hatching a conspiracy to take revenge of the killing of Gurdial Singh. However, the Akali leaders had alleged that the report was submitted to implicate the family members of the deceased Gurdial Singh Algon Kothi.
The District Magistrate alleged that the condition of the jail had deteriorated to the extent that drugs, liquor etc was easily available. Shockingly, the jail staff had recently released a criminal on the basis of mistaken identity who had not been arrested so far. He directed the jail authorities to take corrective measures to streamline the functioning of the jail. He asked the Jail Superintendent to prepare a list of ‘tainted’ jail officials so that illegal activities in the jail could be prevented immediately.
Interestingly, the district administration tried to conceal facts about the surprise raid.
