10 prisoners, jailer die in rioting

CHENNAI, Nov 17 (PTI) — At least 10 prisoners were killed, a jail official burnt alive and over 150 injured in the worst-ever rioting and police firing at the central prison here today following the death of a detainee.

While unconfirmed reports put the toll at 16, state Law and Prisons Minister Aladi Aruna said details could not be divulged as the assembly was in session.

Information percolating from various sources, including the police and the high-security prison, confirmed the toll and the number of the injured.

Many of the seriously injured prisoners, who were brought to Government General Hospital told mediapersons that the toll was much higher than what was stated.

The cause of the riot appeared to be an altercation picked up by some prisoners with the jailer over the death of the detainee, "Boxer" Vadivelu, a notorious history sheeter, detained under the Goondas Act.

The prisoners allegedly attacked the Jailer and set fire the room in which the altercation took place. His burnt body was later identified.

Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi told reporters at the DMK party headquarters tonight that the incident was "unfortunate and condemnable".

While jail officials maintained that Vadivelu died of dysentery, this was disputed by the inmates who went berserk in the jail courtyard and threw stones and missiles.

This led to the lobbing of tear gas shells and a lathi charge by the police, who later opened fire to quell the rioting mob allegedly leading to most of the deaths.

Mr Karunanidhi said he would present all facts in the assembly tomorrow and elicit the views of leaders of other parties before considering suitable action.

He also asked the media not to give credence to any rumours about the high toll in the incident and maintained that only eight deaths had been confirmed. "But, it can be one or two more," he added.

Irate prisoners and their relatives abused the police, and a man, covering a bleeding injury on his head with a piece of cloth, shouted from an ambulance that he would rather commit suicide than serve his term in the central prison.

State Home Secretary Shantha Sheela Nair, City Police Commissioner P. Kalimuthu and Inspector-General (Prisons) K.V.S. Murthy inspected the scene of the violence this afternoon.

The Law and Prisons Minister, who stopped outside the prison to talk to mediapersons for a minute, described it as an "unfortunate" episode and said the government would hide nothing, and would come out with details only to the assembly.

The city central prison, one of the oldest in the country, has witnessed violence in the past, including once in 1985 and a major clash in early 1996.

The 1996 incident followed a sensational jailbreak by some LTTE prisoners, and later, the inmates alleged that there was no clash but they were beaten up by angry policemen who believed that they had abetted the LTTE men’s escape.

The second half of 1998 and early 1999 were marked by widespread unrest in the state’s prisons, as members of the banned Al-Umma and their accomplices often organised minor prison revolts against jail restrictions. However, the Law Minister had then repeatedly denied that the situation was out of control and asserted that these were stray incidents.