PILIBHIT: Of the 28 TADA delaines who were lodged at barrack no, 7, District Jail, Pilibhit; six are already dead while three struggle for life at the Civil Hospital.
Thirteen others who have been lodged in the prison infirmary bear telltale marks of lathi blows below the waist. The bloody drama started in the Jail’s TADA barracks at 12:30 pm Nov, 8, with the detection of an unsuccessful jail break attempt by the detainees. It ran unabated till the early hours of Wednesday, morning leaving several dead and injured.
A case of murder has been registered against the jail authorities and various inquiries are on, Akali Dal) (B) President Prakash Singh Badal is also scheduled to visit Pilibhit on Noy.16 with a delegation on of Punjab leaders to investigate into the incident. According to official sources, the district jail, against a capacity of 176, has been housing 600 under trials, of who 63 rue TADA detainees. Besides the 60 guards, the jail has a staffof75, As many a8 35 detainees have been Purina makeshift barrack in the jail hospital, while 28 have been were kelp in barrack no 7, the scene of the gory drama on the eventful night.
AL 12, 15 that night, jail guard Harchand Sati heard unusual Slirrings in the barracks and investigated. He noticed that five iron rods of the barrack gate had been twisted, and six detainees were about to jump over the jail boundary wall with the help of a ladder made with ropes and pipes.
On hearing Sati shout, his two colleagues Rajendra Six it and Jaswant Singh came running and Were also attacked by the desperadoes, Another guard, Bhagwan Das, ran to the main gate of the jail and sounded the alarm and the PAG posted outside rushed in to help. According to reliable sources, after foiling the escape bid, the jail Officials ordered the thrashing of all inmates of barrack No. 7, despite most of them pleading ignorance about the jailbreak plan.
The thrashing started at 1:30am in the presence of senior jail officials and ‘continued well past six in the morning, Injured detainees in the hospital claimed to have been hit on the genitals, knees, as well as on the head, and soon, most of them started vomiting. Sikhs of the region are, very up scoter the incident, Chairman of Gurdwara Nanak Matta Darshan Singh Bhan and vice-president of UP Sikhs REP Board Daljit Singh Mann, who visited Pilibhit on ‘Thursday, demanded that the CBI enquire into the incident, since the Sikh community does not trust the CBCID inquiry that has been ordered, They have also asked all the “Sikhs Sangats’ in the region to participate in the bhog ceremony for victims of jail violence on November 20, in the Patshahi Pakaria Gurdwara in Pilibhit.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 18, 1994
