Jammu & Kashmir

’96 prisoners majority of them militants arrested during military Ops shifted outside from JK jails’

Central Jail Srinagar. [FPK File Photo/Vikar Syed]

Jammu: Authorities have shifted 96 prisoners, majority of them militants, to various jails in New Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh from Kot Bhalwal Jail and the process is on to shift more after identification.

“Fifty-six prisoners including 53 militants apprehended during military operations and searches in JK and three others booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) have been shifted to jails outside from Kot Bhalwal Jail,” The Excelsior quoted official sources as saying.

The report added that other forty have been moved out from other jails of Jammu and Kashmir including central Jail Srinagar.

“They were taken out of the jails and shifted to Haryana, New Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh under tight security arrangements. The Jammu and Kashmir administration had already entered into an arrangement with the Governments of Haryana, New Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh for lodging hardcore militants there to break their nexus with outside militancy world which they were managing while being kept in the jails of JK,” the report quoted the sources further.

As per the report, it has been decided that “militants and criminals” will not be allowed to stay in one jail for a long time as they might develop their network even there with the help of criminals lodged in their barracks. They will, therefore, continue to be relocated.

“Besides breaking network of the militants being run from the prisons, if any, the move will also act as deterrence for future,” The Excelsior quoted the sources as saying.

Many top Hurriyat leaders of Kashmir have already been lodged in Tihar jail in New Delhi for a long time.

Quoting sources, the report said that the overcrowding in Kot Bhalwal jail was also one of the factors behind the shifting of prisoners to outside jails but the prime reason remained the racket the militants were running despite being lodged in the prisons.

Currently, against the capacity of 850 prisoners, the report said Kot Bhalwal jail accommodates 1,100 detainees.

 

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