Prison bars in Punjab are not strong enough to keep away the social networking bug. Caught by the cops first and the bug later, they are using the social networking sites to spread terror and maintain supremacy over other gangsters.
Mobiles are prohibited inside the jails. Of course, there is a bar on laptops too. But its use (read misuse) is written on the wall; and became apparent when a group of prisoners led by a murder convict thrashed another prisoner in Kapurthala jail before uploading the video on Facebook from inside the jail using his personal smart-phone.
The video, uploaded on October 26, is full of abusive content, and has also gone viral on the YouTube. Hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons in the recent past, the Kapurthala Modern jail has once again raised many eyebrows over its functioning. In a 10-minute clip of the gruesome act, an inmate was mercilessly beaten up by another inmate along with 15-16 friends reportedly to settle an old rivalry with him.
The development has not only exposed the working of the Punjab jails but also highlighted at the possible “unholy” nexus between the jails officials and the inmates who facilitate smuggling of drugs, money, mobile phones and other prohibited items inside the jails. Moreover, the act has also gave impetus to the claims, made by the former director general of police (prisons) Shashi Kant, on the unholy nexus functioning round the clock. Shashi Kant had also filed a PIl on drug mafia in jails before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Some prisoners have went on to admit that they had access to mobile phones and even drugs by bribing jail authorities. Cell phones are available for as little as Rs 500 inside the jail premises. The accused Sukhvir Singh alias Sukha Kahlwan, an alleged sharp shooter, had created his page on the social networking site Facebook on October 1 and had been updating it regularly from the jail premises. He has around 16,000 likes on his page.
He was shifted to Kapurthala jail just three days ago after Kotwali police had registered a case against him on October 9 for beating up the jail warden. Punjab Government, on the other hand, said that they were not aware of such incidents. Punjab Jails Minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur said: “It is not in our knowledge. We will look into this.”