The Rajasthan government removed two officials and suspended two others after a Pakistani prisoner, Shakarullah alias Mohammad Hanif alias Amar Singh Gill, 45, had been murdered in the Jaipur central jail on Wednesday with the FIR lodged into the incident confirming that the prisoner had died on spot, Indian Express reported.
The news came following a February 14 attack on a CRPF convoy in Lethpora area along the Srinagar-Jammu highway in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district which killed 49 CRPF personnel. The attack was claimed by militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad.
Jail Superintendent Sanjay Yadav and Deputy Jailor Jagdish Sharma were removed and placed under Awaiting Posting Orders (APO) late on Wednesday night, as per the report.
Ramswaroop, warder of ward 10, and Baidyanath Sharma, Head Warder and halqa in-charge of ward 10, were placed under suspension, the IE report said.
Rakesh Mohan Sharma will replace Yadav as Superintendent, according to the report.
An inquiry into the incident will be conducted by Rupinder Singh, Inspector General, Prisons, as per an official statement by Rajasthan Police, the IE report stated.
Shakarullah had been present with eight other prisoners inside one of the television rooms on Wednesday when he got into an altercation with four inmates over the volume of the television.
The guard on duty, Ramswaroop Khatik, was quoted as having said that around 1.25 pm, he heard some inmates shout inside room number 58 of ward 10, as per the FIR lodged late on Wednesday under IPC Sections 302 and 34. When he reached the door, Haji Khan, Mahesh, Mallaki and Nandlal told him that Ajeet, Manoj, Kulvendra and Bhajan Meena had an altercation with Shakarullah over the television and were assaulting him. They also told him that Ajeet and others hit Shakarullah on his head with the slab used for keeping the television, following which Shakarullah collapsed. The room had nine inmates, the report said.
According to the report, Ramswaroop raised an alarm and unlocked the door of the television room, with Warder Baidyanath Sharma also reaching the spot. Sharma informed another jail official, Prahlad Singh, who reached the spot with his staff.
The jail doctor, Dr Mukut Bihari Chandel was also called along with his staff. Dr Chandel and his staff declared Shakarullah dead, as per the FIR stated in the IE report.
The post-mortem was conducted on Thursday, the report said.
Director General (Prisons) N R K Reddy was quoted as having said that adequate security measures are being taken to ensure the safety of the remaining 16 Pakistani prisoners — five lodged in Jaipur, five in Bikaner, three in Sri Ganganagar, two in Jodhpur and one in Kota.
Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) issued notices to the Rajasthan Chief Secretary and Director General (Prisons), seeking reports within four weeks.
It called for stringent action against the miscreants to ensure that the Right to Life of prisoners is not violated, the report said. On the basis of news reports, it also held that the authorities are expected to take immediate precautionary measures in jails where Pakistani nationals are lodged.
