Violence erupted in the Kotbalwal jail as Pak prisoners clashed with police leading to the latter resorting to teargas shelling.
SRINAGAR: More than 15 people, including five detainees, were injured in violent clashes between jail inmates and the police inside the highly-fortified Kot Bhalwal jail in Jammu on Sunday.
The trouble began soon after the police went inside the jail to shift some prisoners to Sangrur and Rajasthan jails. More than 300 inmates, mostly militants from across the border, vehemently opposed the move and started shouting slogans against the jail administration.
Some of them even went on a rampage, breaking water pipes and burning furniture, police sources said. They unfurled black flags as a mark of protest on the barrack rooftops, police added.
When security personnel moved in, the inmates threw boiling water and pelted stones at them. This forced the police to lob smoke shells and lathi-charge the mutinous inmates. The police also fired some rounds in the air, sources said.
“In the clashes, some 10 to 12 cops and five inmates suffered injuries. One of the injured detainees was later shifted to hospital,” S P Vaid, Inspector General of police, Jammu range told DNA.
Vaid said the situation has been brought under control.
“We have recovered sharp-edged weapons, pipes, canes, LPG cylinders and kerosene jars during search operations. We are investigating how these items reached the jail premises. The militants would have soon used it against us,” he added.
The incident took place a day before a team of International Committee of Red Cross was scheduled to visit the jail on Monday.
According to police sources, foreign militants are responsible for the ruckus inside the jail premises. It was done with a motive to malign the security forces on the eve of the ICRC team’s visit.
“The inmates wanted to produce things that are against any jail manual. They wanted to move freely from one barrack to another. They demanded that they should be allowed to purchase things from the market. The jail superintendent didn't allow all this. And this irked the inmates,” said Niaz Mehmood, deputy IGP, Jammu range.
Tension has been brewing inside the jail premises for the last few weeks after the CID busted a racket where prisoners used mobiles to carry out operations from within the jail. Several SIM cards were recovered from them.
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