4
rooms with wall to wall carpets, CTVs, coolers,
poultry farm detected
Kot Bhalwal jail was hotel
for some ultras
36 injured in day long operation by police
Iron rods, knives, tokas, 2 SIMs, cylinders
seized
Afghani, 3 Pak militants shifted to Punjab,
R’sthan
By Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU,
Dec 17: Though being a high security and
sensitive jail for housing 343 detenues, majority
of them hardcore militants including 41 foreign
mercenaries, Kot Bhalwal jail was functioning not
less than a hotel for some top militants. The
fact came to light during a massive crackdown
inside the jail by police and jail security staff
today during which 36 persons including 21
detainees and 15 cops were injured.
Wall to wall
carpets in special rooms of four barracks, a
poultry farm, large number of coolers, colour
television sets, gas cylinders and several other
luxurious items were found inside the jail
barracks during searches after the operation was
over this evening. The items were in addition to
recovery of iron rods, sticks, knives,
photographs of digging tunnels from jail, two
more SIM cards, a large quantity of incriminating
literature of Hizbul Mujahideen and Al Mansoorian
and Pakistani flags from the jail, official
sources told the Excelsior.
Sources said
following two days of trouble inside the jail on
the eve of a two day visit to jail by a team of
International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC)
beginning tomorrow with militants refusing to go
inside the lock up and holding protests, the
authorities this morning decided to shift four
foreign mercenaries including one Afghani and
three Pakistanis to jails outside Jammu and
Kashmir in a bid to set the things right and
restore discipline inside the jail.
While militants,
who had gone to barracks at 10 pm last night only
after spending the preceding night in open, they
were irked by the authorities decision to shift
four ‘trouble makers’ from Kot Bhalwal
jail.
However, all four
militants identified as Nek Mohd, an Afghani and
Aijaz Ahmed Khokhar, Asmatullah and Asgar Ali,
all Pakistanis, were successfully brought out of
the barracks, shifted to vehicles and driven out
of Kot Bhalwal jail at 6 am amidst tight security
arrangements and driven to Rajasthan and Punjab
jails. While Khokhar, who was a hardcore militant
was shifted to Rajasthan jail, three others were
taken to Punjab.
Within minutes,
the militants started breaking barrack walls and
rods and came out in the jail premises. Some of
them climbed to roof tops carrying flags and
shouting slogans.
Security staff of
jail under the supervision of Superintendent
Mirza Salim Beig came into action. A strong pose
of police personnel led by Additional SP Jammu
Shakti Pathak rushed to the jail. Senior police
officers including IGP Jammu Dr Shesh Pal Vaid
and an Additional District Magistrate also
reached the spot.
Divisional
Commissioner, Jammu Pramod Jain and IGP Jammu Dr
Shesh Pal Vaid told a joint press conference this
evening that repeated calls were made to the
militants from mikes to return to the barracks
and maintain law and order. For over two hours,
there was no response from the militants, Mr Jain
said, adding instead, the detenues mostly foreign
mercenaries resorted to stone pelting on officers
and officials on duty which was a clear case of
attack from roof top of the jail.
He said police
first resorted to lathicharge to push delinquent
crowd in the barracks and then fired teargas
shells to restore order. He categorically denied
that any firing took place inside the jail or
that some militants were prevented from
performing religious duties.
In the clashes,
the Divisional Commissioner said, 21 detainees
and 15 police personnel sustained injuries.
Finally, the cops and jail security staff
succeeded in pushing all detenues inside the
barracks. Two injured militants were shifted to
Government Medical College Hospital. They have
been identified as Ghulam Hassan Qamar, a
resident of Kupwara and a Pakistani Umar Din.
Their condition was stated to be stable.
Soon after the
militants were sent to barracks, sources said,
police personnel and jail staff launched searches
inside the jail premises and were surprised to
find that several militants including foreign
mercenaries were living luxurious life, not less
than the comforts of a hotel, inside the jail.
Sources said
four special rooms were found inside four
barracks of the jail which had wall to wall
carpet and fitted with all electronic items
including coolers, water coolers, color
television sets, LPG cylinders, mobile
telephones, imported cigarettes and hot water
bottles.
These four rooms
were being used by the militants, who had been
designated as ‘Aamirs’ (Mukhias) by the
detenues. Two of them were identified by the
sources as Altaf Choudhary, a former police
constable who was earlier posted as PSO with a
retired Additional DGP and Mushtaq Ahmed. Two
others using the hotel like rooms were Pakistani
militants, sources said.
They said 50
coolers, used for keeping the selected militants
cool during summer, three water coolers, 25 color
television sets, six handy gas cylinders, a
poultry farm with 30 Chickens and color
photographs showing a previously dug tunnel
inside the jail were among the recoveries made
from the barracks.
In addition, 15
iron rods, tokas, knives, sticks, a large
quantity of stones, literature of Hizbul
Mujahideen and Al Mansoorian, their posters, some
Pakistani flags and two more SIM cards were
recovered during searches.
"Some of the
militants had been leading a luxurious life even
inside the jail and that was the reason that they
were opposed to shifting of militants outside the
jail as well as search", sources said,
adding today’s search has clearly exposed
"negligence" as well as
"connivance" of previous jail
authorities and staff without whose support
smuggling of luxurious items and sharp-edged
weapons like tokas and knives wouldn’t have
been possible.
Briefing
mediapersons, Director General Prisons, M K
Mohanty admitted laxity on the part of jail staff
which led to smuggling of unauthorised items
inside the jail. "That is why, we have
removed one-third jail staff responsible for
maintenance of security from Kot Bhalwal jail and
posted new staff", he said.
He claimed that
the detenues had broken cement slab and cut iron
rods. GI pipes, cricket bats and wickets had been
used to make sticks. "The basic amenities
provided to the detenues had been misused to make
rods and sticks", he said but admitted that
"there has been laxity on the part of jail
staff".
He reiterated that
jammers are being installed in the jail to check
operation of mobile telephones, which will take
time. Regarding security arrangements, he said,
all steps under jail menu of security had been
taken. The metal detectors were in place and
physical frisking of detenues was being done but
there was a laxity in doing this, he asserted. He
didn’t rule out the possibility of jail
staff’s connivance with the detenues. On
installation of X-Ray scanner, he said human
beings can’t be subjected to searches from
the scanner which only scans brief cases and
other such luggage.
Mr Mohanty said
there was a procedure of conducting searches
inside the jail after every 15 days. Searches
were conducted jointly by CRPF and jail staff but
nothing was recovered though "we had reports
that some mobile telephones might have been
smuggled inside the jail. Mobile phones are small
gadgets and might have been hidden or shifted to
other barracks during searches".
The two day visit
of ICRC in Kot Bhalwal jail on Monday and Tuesday
stands despite today’s incidents, Mr Mohanty
said.
To a question on
the suspension of former Kot Bhalwal Jail
Superintendent Sheikh Abdul Rashid despite the
fact that it was he who had first recovered two
mobile telephones with SIM cards from inside the
jail, the DGP Prisons said that he was suspended
for violation of conduct of rules.
He blamed foreign
mercenaries for creating trouble in the jail.
Divisional
Commissioner Pramod Jain said some of the
militants mostly foreign mercenaries had been
indulging in activities inside Kot Bhalwal jail
which were not permissible under law.
"Terrorists
were trying to break peace and tranquillity
within the jail, making attempts to bully
administration and resorting to methods which
were not permitted in the jail", he said,
adding they had with them unauthorised items like
mobile phones, SIM cards, iron rods, lathis and
stones which compelled police to carry out a
search operation.
Following police
action, situation became under control and peace
has been restored in the jail, Mr Jain said,
adding clear instructions had been given to
police to use minimum force. "Police action
was aimed to ensure that undertrials and convicts
were not put to harm by few militants, who had
chosen to derail the administration while others
were trying to co-operate with it.
IGP Jammu Dr S P
Vaid, in a reply to a question, said police will
investigate whether there was any conspiracy
angle in smuggling of unauthorised items inside
the jail. He said a case in connection with
today’s clash has been registered by police.
He added that the
jail has been sanitised.
As exclusively
reported by the Excelsior today, over 300
militants including foreign mercenaries out of a
total of 343 detenues in Kot Bhalwal jail had
refused to go inside the lock-up since Friday.
They spent Friday night in the open. Yesterday
too, they didn’t go to the lock-up at
scheduled time of 8.30 pm but went inside at
10.30 pm following negotiations with jail
authorities.
Trouble in the
jail had started in the month of October with the
recovery of two activated mobile telephones of a
private company from an under-trial Gurmeet Singh
and a Hizbul Mujahideen militant Altaf Choudhary
by the then Jail Superintendent Sheikh Abdul
Rashid. During subsequent investigations, CID had
arrested a Pakistani militant Abdul Hai, who had
destroyed his SIM card and mobile phone after the
recovery of two hand sets and a local militant
Raja Muzaffar of Uri besides Sanjeev Kumar
Samyal, another under-trial on whose name one of
the SIM card had been issued.
With today’s
recovery of two more SIM cards during searches, a
total of four SIM cards have been recovered from
inside the high security jail.
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