A day after a prisoner died and several others were injured in clashes at Ludhiana Central Jail, a jail inmate has gone missing. Besides, the Punjab Police on Friday booked 22 jail inmates for allegedly attacking cops and damaging jail property.
As per available information, an undertrail prisoner Aman Kumar alias Deepak has been missing since the violence — a development also confirmed by the Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.
The Police sources maintained that they suspect that the undertrial prisoner could have used the confusion that followed the violence to escape.
The police has registered a case against prisoner-accused — Gagandeep, Ghanaiya, Ranbir, Bhupinder, Boota Khan, Babu, Gaggu, Vishal, Pankaj, Suni, Ajit, Sarwan, Ranjit, Gurjant, Romish, Karanjot, Jatta, Rakesh, Queem Khan, Karamjeet and others — at the Division Number 7 police station, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 307 (attempt to murder).
Meanwhile, Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Pradeep Aggarwal, who is also Ludhiana district magistrate, has started an inquiry into violence at the jail.
Ludhiana Central Jail Superintendent Shamsher Singh said that the two groups of gangsters had entered into a scuffle, and when the cops tried to pacify them, the inmates attacked the jail staff with bricks and stones.
Singh claimed that the inmates put on fire the gas cylinders, the record room, a tractor and another vehicle in the jail, forcing the cops to open firing in the air to control the situation.
In the melee, an inmate identified as Ajit Baba was killed after being hit by a bullet and 11 people — including five inmates and six police personnel — were injured.
Punjab Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who visited the central jail to take stock of the situation, faced protests from the relatives and friends of those injured in the clash, who raised slogans against the State Government and the Minister.
The mother of undertrial Avtar Baba, who fell to the bullets of police on Thursday, said that they would not let the post-mortem be done till a case of murder is registered against the persons responsible for the killing of her son. She claimed that her son was innocent.
Prison Action force to be set up
Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who visited Ludhiana Central Jail accompanied by the senior officers of the Department as well as the District Administration said that ‘Prison Action Force’ would be set up in the state prisons, on the lines of the Rapid Action Force, to avoid recurrence of such incidents in jails.
Randhawa inspected the high security zone, all barracks, and all those places which were damaged by the inmates.
Apprising the Minister of the background of the violence, DGP Jails Rohit Chaudhary said that some gangsters plotted the entire violence spree who were irked with the jail administration for not letting them out of the high security zone besides not letting prohibited items inside the premises.
Randhawa also met those jail officers who had bravely tried to bring the rowdy jail inmates gone berserk under control. The Minister announced the award of Rs 5,000 each for these officers or employees besides the awarding of commendation certificates and promotion.
He praised those inmates who cooperated with the jail authorities in bringing the situation under control and said that special concessions would be given to such inmates.
The Minister, during the course of visit, felt that the tear gas played an important role in controlling the mob.
Randhawa talked with the DGP on the spot and directed him to provide tear gas shells and rubber bullets to the Jail Department so as to be better prepared to tackle such a situation in future.
Register murder case against Jails Minister: Sukhbir
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal has demanded registration of a murder case against Punjab Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa who was directly responsible for the killing of a jail inmate during police firing in Ludhiana Central Jail, a day before.
“Besides the Jails Minister, the role of other senior police officers and the Jail Superintendent should also be examined to fix responsibility for the death of inmate Ajit Baba in the police firing besides gun-shot injuries to four others,” he demanded.
Sukhbir said that in case the Congress Government did not order a probe into the case by a central agency or a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the SAD would order a high level probe into the incident once it returned to power in the State.