The hunger strike undertaken by inmates of Sabarmati Central Jail entered its second day even as 250 inmates joined the agitation.
The hunger strike undertaken by inmates of Sabarmati Central Jail entered its second day even as 250 inmates joined the agitation on Thursday.
Forty-eight inmates of the jail had launched the hunger strike on Wednesday, protesting against alleged inhuman treatment by jail authorities.
A source told DNA that after an application announcing the hunger strike was submitted to the jail authorities on Wednesday, as many as 250 inmates joined in the protest.
However, no jail authority confirmed the matter. The strike had been called after two inmates of the jail, Younis Sareswala and Hazi Farooq, had allegedly been beaten by jail staff. The two inmates, both booked under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota), had been waiting to enter the visitors’ room. However, no formal complaint was filed in the incident.
A source in the jail said the staff had tried all possible measures to bring the hunger strike to an end. “No inmate was allowed to exit his cell all day. All movement in the jail has stopped,” the source said.
The striking inmates were not allowed to meet their relatives in the visitors’ room. “The prisoners were told that they would have to eat their food if they wanted to meet their relatives,” the relative of an inmate said.
Jail authorities switched off the electricity and water connections of the cells in the afternoon. “The prisoners were forced to remain in the heat without fans and drinking water. They are being treated inhumanly and are being forced to remain in their cells for 24 hours,” a relative of an inmate said.
Unconfirmed reports said that the inmates were beaten every hour by sipahis inside the jail, attempting to get them to break their hunger strike.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}