Jail officials call bribe claim by Nabha jailbreak accused Mintoo’s counsel a ‘bluff’

Also, the jail officials said Mintoo was not any hunger strike as his counsel Jaspal Singh Manjhpur claimed on Saturday after the Khalistani militant deposed before a Ludhiana court through videoconferencing.

A day after Khalistani militant and Nabha jailbreak accused Harminder Singh Mintoo’s counsel claimed that some officials at the Central Jail, Patiala, where he is lodged, demanded bribe from his client to shift him from a ‘dark cell’, the prison authorities refuted the claim.

Mintoo and Kashmir Singh along with four gangsters Vicky Gounder, Gurpreet Sekhon, Kulpreet Singh alias Neeta Deol and Amandeep Singh Dhotian had escaped from the high-security Nabha jail on November 27, 2016, after armed men stormed the prison premises. (HT File/Representative image)

Also, the jail officials said Mintoo was not any hunger strike as his counsel Jaspal Singh Manjhpur claimed on Saturday after the Khalistani militant deposed before a Ludhiana court through videoconferencing.

Manjhpur had claimed in a press release that Mintoo shared this with him at the time of videoconferencing only.

Talking to HT over phone, Manjhpur said, ‘’Mintoo shared all these things during the video conferencing. He said that he had not eaten anything since morning (Saturday) and has gone on hunger strike to protest against the jail authorities.’’

Manjhpur also quoted Mintoo as saying that he was facing health problems as he is not being allowed to come out of the cell besides facing threat to his life from the jail staff.

He said that despite medical advice, the jail authorities were not getting Mintoo examined at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) for treatment.

Jail superintendent Rajan Kapur said, “I met Mintoo on Sunday morning. He did not mention such thing. Also, he is not on any hunger strike. He also claimed that his lawyer must be mistaken.’’

About the allegations of jail officials demanding bribe to shift Mintoo from a dark cell, Kapur said, “These are false allegations. Moreover, we have not kept Mintoo in a dark cell. He has been kept in a separate cell as part of the security measures.’’

Mintoo was arrested by the Punjab Police from the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, in November 2014 on his return from Thailand. At the time of his arrest, he was accused of being involved in 10 terror-related cases. In India, Mintoo was named as accused in several terror cases, including for the attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and on three Shiv Sena leaders. He was allegedly tasked by the ISI of Pakistan to carry out an attack on Independence Day in Punjab.