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Kapurthala jail violence: 50 inmates booked, cops seize mobile phones, rods
More than 50 inmates were booked on Sunday after violence erupted inside Kapurthala jail on Saturday night; police said iron rods, sticks and mobile phones were recovered
More than 50 inmates were booked on Sunday after violence erupted inside Kapurthala jail on Saturday night. Police said iron rods, sticks and mobile phones were recovered during checking after the unrest. There are around 4,000 inmates in the Kapurthala jail.
Three inmates sustained injuries, two during a cane charge, another after being hit by a teargas shell, police said.
The incident took place late at night when inmates lodged in Block 4 clashed over some issue.
“The exact cause of the clash is yet to be ascertained. No police personnel or jail staff were injured in the incident, officials added.
Kapurthala’s senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gaurav Toora said the case has been registered against the inmates under charges of rioting, arson, obstructing a civil servant in performing his duties and criminal conspiracy. “Relevant sections under the Prisons Act and Information Technology (IT) Act have also been invoked,” Toora said.
“The situation was brought under control around 1am. Cops managed to bring down the inmates who had climbed to the rooftop of their barrack by breaking the doors and windows. Heavy police force is still deployed inside the jail premises,” Toora said.
Videos purportedly showing clashes between the inmates and jail officials went viral on social media. In one of the videos, inmates could be seen standing on the rooftops of the jail premises while the police personnel lobbed teargas shells to disperse them. HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.
The SSP clarified that there was no jailbreak attempt and no inmate managed to escape the prison.
“All the inmates in Block 4 of the jail were hardened criminals facing four or more criminal cases,” Toora said, adding that investigations are on to find out how inmates manage to procure mobile phones and circulate videos on social media despite the installation of jammers inside the jail.
