The Jammu & Kashmir Government has suspended two jail officials and ordered an enquiry into an assault on a Pakistani prisoner on Friday morning inside the high-security Kot Balwal Jail in Jammu.
The attack, carried out by a former Indian soldier convicted for murder, has stark similarities with the fatal attack on Sarabjit Singh inside lahore’s Kot lakhpat Jail.
A resident of Sialkot in Pakistan, Sanauallah was immediately shifted from the high-security Kot Balwal Jail to Jammu Medical College Hospital and later rushed to PGI Chandigarh in an air ambulance. There were conflicting reports about Sanaullah’s condition. While sources at the Postgraduate Institute Chandigarh claimed he was critical, Delhi officials describe his condition as “stable.”
India termed the incident as “regrettable” and assured that the person behind the assault would be punished, even as Pakistan sought his urgent repatriation.
It is not clear if the Kot Balwal assault is linked to the murderous attack on Sarabjit Singh in a Pakistani jail. The attack took place a few hours before Singh was cremated with State honours at his native village in Punjab.
Sources said the Pakistani prisoner, 54-year-old Rana Sanaullah, a resident of Sialkot in Punjab province of Pakistan, was attacked at around 8 am when he reportedly entered into an argument with a fellow prisoner Vinod Kumar, a former soldier hailing from Uttarakhand.
Kumar, 36, reportedly hit Sanaullah on the head with
a pickaxe.
The wounded prisoner was immediately shifted to Jammu Medical College Hospital in a highly critical state where he slipped into a coma.
Medical Superintendent Dr Manoj Chlotra said in Jammu that Sanaullah's wound was deep and a part of the skull was crushed.
After the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), a medical test exhibiting level of consciousness of comatose patient, showed lowest readings, the authorities decided to shift him to the Postgraduate Institute Chandigarh in an air ambulance.
Describing the incident as "unfortunate", J&K Minister of State for Home Affairs Sajjad Kichloo said that the Government has ordered an enquiry into the incident. Principal Secretary (Home) Suresh Kumar would conduct the probe. Meanwhile, the authorities have suspended Jail Superintendent Rajni Sehgal and Havildar Suman Kumar for dereliction of duty. Sources said that an alert had been sounded in all J&K jails following the fatal attack on Sarabjit Singh.
Sources in the Home Department said that Sanaullah had been captured in Kashmir Valley on April 29, 1999 and tried in eight cases involving terrorism and activities against the State. He was serving life imprisonment in three cases.
They said that Vinod Kumar was court martialled by the Army for murdering his colleague in ladakh six years ago.
The two got into an argument in the prison garden where they were taken to do daily chores assigned to prisoners.
"The Pakistani High Commission has shown serious concern. It has taken up with the Ministry of External Affairs the attack on Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah in Kot Bhalwal Jail in Jammu," the Press Attache at the High Commission in Delhi said.
He added that Pakistan had sought the urgent repatriation of Sanaullah on humanitarian grounds for medical treatment there.
The Pakistani High Commission also sought consular access to Sanaullah, which was immediately given.
The spokesperson in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said that the "regrettable" assault was being investigated and the guilty will be punished.
"We are in touch with the Pakistani High Commission on the matter. The injured is receiving medical treatment and his condition is stable. However, the Pakistani prisoner remains under medical watch," he said.
The MEA spokesperson also said: "In view of these tragic incidents India is proposing a meeting of the concerned authorities of both the countries to study the recommendations and identify and put in place further measures to avoid such incidents in future."
There are nearly 535 Indian prisoners (including 483 fishermen) in Pakistani jails and a total of 270 Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails.