Security of 2 more accused tightened

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 24

In the case pertaining to attack on sacrilege accused Jagjit Singh by five gangsters on Friday, Minister of Jails Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa has said an inquiry has been marked to the Police Commissioner, Ludhiana, who will mainly interrogate the gangsters to find if there was any external or internal conspiracy behind the attack on the accused inside the jail.

“I have talked to Commissioner of Police Sukhchain Singh Gill on the issue. He has been told to expose the conspiracy, if any, behind the attack. The CP will also verify if the gangsters were in touch with any person outside the jail to hatch a conspiracy,” the minister told The Tribune.

He also said a high-level meeting of senior officials of the Jails Department was also called on Monday to deliberate on various issues pertaining to jails.

Superintendent of Central Jail Shamsher Singh Boparai said apart from Jagjit Singh, an accused of sacrilege who was attacked by gangsters in the jail, two more accused of sacrilege, who belong to Ropar and Jagraon respectively, were lodged in the jail here. To prevent any attack on them in future by gangsters, they have been kept in the high security barracks.

“We have made adequate security arrangements for two more sacrilege accused to prevent any such attack in future. Even when Jagjit Singh, who is at present undergoing treatment in a hospital, will return to jail, he, too, will be kept under high supervision to prevent further attacks on him,” said Boparai.

Sources said government was also planning to strengthen security in jails. Inmates of jails, which are exceeding capacity, would be shifted to other jails with less occupancy. There are also plans to install advanced security equipment to check the entry of banned items in the jail. A jail official said the number of CCTV cameras was also likely to be increased in Punjab jails to keep tabs on the activities of gangsters. 

The sources said the Ludhiana jail had been facing huge staff crunch. At present, there are around 3,100 undertrials and convicts lodged in the Ludhiana jail. To oversee the security arrangements, there is a staff of around 180 personnel who are working in two shifts, 90 personnel in each shift. Jail officials said there was a need to double the strength of jail staff to tackle these incidents in jail in Ludhiana. 

The gangsters who attacked Jagjit were identified as Harsimran Deep Singh of Behbal Kalan in Faridkot (facing 17 cases of murder, decoity, loot etc), Simarjit Singh Bablu of Sandhu Colony in Amrtisar (facing four cases of murder and dacoity), Gurpreet Singh Gopi (facing 18 cases of heinous crimes), Amaninder Singh of Kila Raipur (facing a murder case) and Mandeep Singh, alias Dicky Gill of Ludhiana, who is facing a murder case.