Month after Nabha jailbreak, lapses found at Patiala prison

Tribune News Service

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Chandigarh, December 26

A month after the Nabha jailbreak, a surprise check at the Patiala Central Jail late Sunday night by a team of senior officers led by ADGP Rohit Choudhary found serious security lapses.

Choudhary found that one of the two guards on night duty was absent from his post. Besides, he was allowed entry through the first gate of the jail where many gangsters besides terrorists were lodged. The guards there did not check his identity even though he had joined the department only a few weeks ago.

Choudhary reprimanded them for believing his “claim” of being the ADGP-Jails at the face value. The guards at the second entry gate, however, stopped him and did not let him in for about half an hour till they got his identity verified.

Choudhary has ordered suspension of two guards (both of the Punjab Police cadre) for laxity and a guard of PESCO (Punjab Ex-Servicemen Cooperative), which provides security to jails apart from the jail guard cadre, was reverted for dereliction of duty.

Jail Superintendent Bhupinder Singh Virk was issued a warning asking him to ensure better supervision in future.

At the same time, for the alert staff, the ADGP ordered a cash reward and CC-1 commendation certificate for four employees. They are Assistant Jail Superintendent Raghubir Singh and head wardens Jagraj Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Kewal.

Choudhary said in a statement that such checks were needed to keep guards on their toes. He said a team of officers from Chandigarh had been told to carry out such checks regularly. He also issued instructions to the jail superintendents to brief the sentries on responding properly to situations and to arm them with wireless sets and torches.