Patiala, November 27: A year after six prisoners escaped from the Maximum Security Jail, Nabha, two of them are yet to be re-arrested gangster Harjinder Bhullar alias Vicky Gounder and militant Kashmir Singh Galwadi.
Fourteen armed gangsters, many of them dressed as cops, had attacked the jail on November 27 (Sunday) last year. Firing shots, they had taken just a few minutes to execute their plan, even as the jail officials had failed to retaliate.
The escapees included Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh alias Mintoo, Gurpreet Singh Sekhon alias Sonu Mudki, Kulpreet Singh alias Neeta Deol and Amandeep Dhotian (they were later nabbed).
An inspector, a sub-inspector and a DSP, all posted in Nabha, were issued showcause notices for allegedly helping jailbreak conspirator Ramanjit Singh alias Romi flee India by returning the passport confiscated from him at the time of his arrest. Almost a year after the probe was ordered, no action has been taken. The police had arrested then Assistant Jail Superintendent Bhim Singh, head warder Jagmeet Singh and Tejinder Sharma, who runs Shagun Sweet Shop in Nabha, on the charges of conniving with the escapees and facilitating the jailbreak.
Documents accessed by The Tribune reveal that the Punjab Police top brass and the Prisons Department “ignored an internal security review and suggestions that clearly indicated a desperate attempt to flee Khalistani terrorists”. The report was sent to the police headquarters a month after the 2015 attack on the Dinanagar police station. It had flagged many shortcomings in prison security and proposed “urgent steps”, many of which were taken only recently.
The report said, “Jail employees perform their duties with outdated 3×3 rifles. Kindly replace these weapons with modern and efficient AK47s, SLRs and LMGs on a permanent basis from the Central Armoury, Bahadurgarh. The jail authorities’ demand for four SLRs and four carbines with sufficient ammunition has been fulfilled, but this arrangement is temporary.”
The Prisons Department still suffers from shortage of manpower and sophisticated weapons. In the past one year, the department has seen three DGP-level officials taking over, only to be shunted out later.
News Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com
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