Deputy Superintendent of Gurdaspur Central Jail sent on leave after prison clash

Gurdaspur, March 15

The government has sent Deputy Superintendent of Gurdaspur Central Jail on leave following yesterday’s violence after two groups of inmates clashed.

Harbhajan Singh, Deputy Superintendent, who has been sent on leave, has been replaced by three officers. These are Navdeep Singh Beniwal, Darshan Singh and Mangal Singh.

In another development, Gurdaspur DC Himanshu Aggarwal has initiated a magisterial inquiry into the sequence of events, leading to violence.

Aggarwal said SDM Karamjeet Singh had been entrusted with the probe. He had been asked to submit the report within 72 hours.

Sources, however, said the SDM might not be able to complete the proceedings in three days as a lot of election-related work was to be done by the SDM and his office. An officer said the time-period could be extended.

Jail Superintendent Navinder Singh said he had formed a committee to look into the damage done by the inmates. A new hospital building was being built inside the jail complex due to which a lot of construction material was lying in the area where the violence took place. The prisoners took advantage of the construction material to threw stones, tiles and bricks at cops.

A senior officer said roads were not sealed during yesterday’s violence. “We do not stop traffic or seal roads when anything untoward happens in the jail or when VIP’s visit the prison. On March 10, when HC judge Justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu paid a visit, the roads were not sealed,” he said.