Inmates booked for attacking jail staff move court against deputy superintendent

LUDHIANA: Following the Central Jail authorities here getting a case registered against certain inmates for allegedly attacking jail staff, the latter through their counsel have now moved court, alleging that the deputy superintendent, Central Jail, had beaten them.
On Wednesday, Ludhiana police had registered an FIR against jail inmates Rishav Benipal, Nihal Sharma and Neeraj Sharma for allegedly attacking jail staff. Assistant jail superintendent Harminder Singh said that on August 26, when the jail warder was discharging his duty in jail, the accused, who were lodged there for committing some crime, attacked the warder. He added that jail staff intervened to save him.
On the other hand, family members of the inmates alleged that jail officials had beaten them up. In the plea moved in the court of duty magistrate, Ludhiana, Kunal Vohra, Mannan Berry and Rajesh Sharma, the counsel for the accused, sought directions from the court to the superintendent, Central Jail, Ludhiana, or any authority concerned for taking necessary action again the deputy superintendent Iqbal Singh Dhaliwal, along with his gunman and other officials for “illegally” beating their applicants and for conducting immediate medical examination of applicants from the civil hospital, Ludhiana, on urgent basis. Besides, they also demanded that the status report with regard to the detention of the applicant in separate cells and their applicants’ involvement in some false criminal cases.
Advocate Mannan Berry said apart from moving application before the court they had sent the same to jail minister, DGP Punjab, Punjab State Human Rights Commission, and jail superintendent about it.
Meanwhile, Superintendent, Central Jail, Rajiv Arora refuted allegations made by the accused and said that they will send status report to the court in the matter. He added that the accused persons attacked their staff and later misbehaved with the deputy superintendent.
The accused are lodged in the jail in an attempt to murder case on February 12, lodged against them at Moti Nagar police station.