Kapurthala, February 27: Several alleged malpractices have been taking place in Kapurthala Central Jail, alleged lawyers and members of inmates’ families at a press conference here today.“Inmates are threatened and forced to pay up for basic things, such as medicines.
An inmate gets a tablet of paracetamol after paying a bribe of Rs500. If paracetamol is unavailable, a tablet of Tramadol is given. Besides, jail officials ask for Rs4,000 to Rs5,000 for using mobile phones,” advocate Vikram Satpal Anand told the media.
He got a whiff of the alleged corruption in the jail when nine inmates contacted him through their parents.“Jail Superintendent Surinderpal Khanna is the man behind the malpractices. He operates through two of his touts gunman Resham Singh and line officer Bahadur Singh.
They extort money from inmates through different means. For instance, they demand Rs50,000 to Rs1 lakh for changing barracks of inmates,” Anand said.
But why change barracks? “An inmate is often lodged in a barrack of his rivals. Under threat, he has no option but to accede to jail officials’ demand for a bribe to change his barrack,” he said.This has been going on for long.
A Kapurthala youth, whose elder brother is a murder accused and lodged in the jail, said, “About two years ago, my brother called me from the jail and asked for Rs 55,000. I somehow arranged the money and gave it to him.
He needed Rs50,000 for changing the barrack and Rs5,000 for using mobile phone.” He refused to reveal his name, fearing “police torture”.Another alleged method of threat is to lodge AIDS patients with other inmates. “There is a security ward in the jail where AIDS patients are lodged. They are not supposed to venture out.
But they are often lodged with other inmates. So, this gives another opportunity to Khanna’s touts to extort money from inmates for changing the barrack,” advocate Gurdeepinder Singh Dhillon said.
A woman, whose son faces drug and loot cases, claimed, “He has been in the jail for the past two years. Jail officials ask for money from my son to use mobile phone.”Even she refused to reveal her name and that of her son. When asked about her native village, all she said was “Ferozepur”.
When Anand was asked was there no malpractices in the Kapurthala jail before Khanna got the charge, he said he had no information regarding that.
Khanna was transferred to the Kapurthala jail from Ludhiana in December last year. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had on September 22, 2017 marked an inquiry against him.
“At the Ludhiana jail, there were allegations of corruption against Khanna. An inquiry was marked and Khanna was transferred,” Anand claimed.
Source Tribune India
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