Two inmates lodged in the Borstal jail, Ludhiana, died while as many were critically injured after lightning struck the prison premises on Thursday evening.
The deceased are Lakhbir Singh (18) and Rishabh Kumar (19).
Prison officials said Lakhbir, Rishabh, Gurdeep Singh and Rajwinder Singh were offering prayers in the jail temple. All of a sudden, lightning hit the wall of the temple followed by an explosion. The four suffered burn injuries and were rushed to the Ludhiana civil hospital where Lakhbir and Rishabh died during treatment.
Lakhbir was facing trial in a case of kidnapping a minor girl on the pretext of marriage, while Rishabh was arrested on charges of committing burglaries.
Heavy police force was deployed in the jail complex that also houses the Ludhiana Central jail and women jail, so that no inmate could escape taking advantage of the situation.
All the inmates were immediately shifted to their cells after the explosion triggered panic in the jail. Computers, closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, LCD screens and fans were damaged in the incident.
The injured said they were offering routine prayers they were blinded by a sharp light that was followed by an explosion. They thought a bomb has exploded near them. It was drizzling at the time, they said.
{{/usCountry}}The injured said they were offering routine prayers they were blinded by a sharp light that was followed by an explosion. They thought a bomb has exploded near them. It was drizzling at the time, they said.
{{/usCountry}}“It occurred to me that a clash has taken place between the police and the central jail inmates again and the cops fired on them with bullets hitting our jail after missing the target. I only came to know about the lightning when my fellow inmates told me about it,” Gurdeep said.
Additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP, city-4) Ajinder Singh said, “The injured are stable.”