M A I N   N E W S

Riot in Jalandhar jail
Prisoner injured as police fires to regain control
Dharmendra Joshi
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, January 7
Prisoners took over the overcrowded Central Jail located near Basti Adda Chowk here and did not allow anyone to come near them for a couple of hours today.

The prisoners also reportedly tried to blow up the boundary wall of the 19th century jail of the British time. The jail police resorted to fire several rounds in the air and fired teargas shells to thwart their attempt to flee in which a prisoner, Kuldip Singh Keepa, an accused in the infamous Prabir kidnapping case, sustained injuries.

The main reason of the provocation for the prisoners to take over the jail was the alleged highhandedness of the jail authorities.

Resentment was brewing among them since the reported incident of cutting hair of a Sikh prisoner on December 28.

Most of the prisoners were on fast this morning in protest against the incident and in favour of their demands of providing basic facilities to them.

The prisoners were reportedly brought out in the open ground inside the jail from their respective barracks around 9.30 am for taking food, but they refused to take it and started raising slogans against the jail authorities, said jail sources.

After some minutes, the situation took an ugly turn when hardcore criminals lodged in the jail started pelting stones at the security personnel deputed in the jail. The jail staff ran for shelter near the towers where the armed guards are deployed. The jail sources said since the inmates outnumbered the jail staff, they did not have any option but to run for life.

In what was visible from the high roof of the nearby Luxmi Naryana Mandir, several prisoners armed with iron rods and sticks put the workshop, shed, library, record room and hospital inside jail on fire. Fire engines from the fire station opposite the jail were pressed into service to douse the flames.

It took at least three hours to regain control of the jail due to the apparent lack of coordination between the jail authorities and district police. Even SSP Arpit Shukla admitted that the jail authorities failed to inform them in time.

However, as soon as they got information, DC Ajit Singh Pannu, DIG Narinder Pal Singh and SSP Arpit Shukla with a large posse of police personnel reached the spot and managed to bring the situation under control by pacifying the prisoners.

The DC and the SSP held separate meetings with the representatives of the male and female inmates separately to know their grievances. The DC and the SSP said that they complained about the lack of basic amenities in the jail. The prisoners alleged that they were not provided proper food and medical facilities, they added.

On the other hand, acting jail superintendent Sat Pal said, “The prisoners were annoyed with me since I had enforced order on the campus after assuming office a few days back. I had caught about six prisoners using mobile phones and recovered smack from two inmates. I also recovered over 100 capsules containing intoxicants.”

The acting jail superintendent further said, “Conniving with the prisoners, some members of the jail staff had been facilitating smuggling of drugs and mobile phones inside the jail. They had instigated them to protest.”

The situation went out of control when one inmate concocted the story that his hair was cut, he alleged.

Meanwhile, the DC has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident. ADC SS Brar would conduct the inquiry and would submit its report within a week.

Acting jail supdt suspended

The Punjab government has suspended acting jail superintendent of the jail Satpal, said DC Ajit Singh Pannu, adding that AIG (Prisons) Jagjit Singh will take care of the jail till further orders. In the meantime, an FIR has reportedly been lodged at police station No. 2 against several prisoners for violence. DIG (Prisons) Mohammad Izhar Alam also visited the jail in the evening. He refused to comment on the condition of Punjab jails and said, “It is not appropriate to talk about these issues right now as the fire has not been fully put out in the jail”. — TNS