*Jail Supdt, 4 others suspended; inquiry ordered
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, May 3: Irked by the taunting remarks over Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh’s killing in Lahore jail, a dismissed Army jawan from Uttarakhand serving life term in Central Kot Bhalwal jail near here hit a Pakistani terrorist with a brick and shovel on his head causing him deep injuries and sending him into deep coma.
Sanaullah Ranjay, 64, son of Ashiq Hussain, a resident of village Daluwali in Sialkot district of Pakistan and a dreaded militant of Hizbul Mujahideen outfit was arrested in 1994 for his involvement in twin blasts at Ashoka Crossing, Satwari (in a matador) and Manda Morh, Nagrota (in a bus) in which 14 persons had been killed and scores of others were injured. He was in Kot Bhalwal jail since 1999. In 2009, the court had awarded him life imprisonment.
After battling for life for eight hours in the Government Medical College, Jammu, he was airlifted to PGI Chandigarh in an air ambulance.
The State Government has placed Kot Bhalwal Jail Superintendent Rajni Sehgal and her subordinate staff under suspension for negligence on duty and ordered a high level inquiry into the incident to be conducted by either Principal Secretary (Home) Suresh Kumar or Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Pradeep Gupta.
Director General (Prisons) K Rajendera, who was on leave to Hyderabad, his home town, was rushing back and was expected to be here early tomorrow morning. Mr Rajendera told the Excelsior on telephone that besides Mrs Sehgal, four Jail Wardens have also been placed under suspension and an inquiry ordered against them.
“It was a verbal duel between two individuals, both of whom were murder convicts and serving life term. There was no clash in the jail. A fresh review of protection of prisoners in all the jails is being undertaken tomorrow. Superintendents of all Jails have been directed telephonically to take best possible security measures and ensure that no untoward incident takes place in the jail,’’ Mr Rajendera said, adding out of 380 prisoners in Kot Bhalwal jail, 46 were militants and 22 of them were Pakistanis.
The accused has been identified as Vinod Kumar, 39, son of Mehtab Singh, a resident of village Siku in Garhwal Hills of Nainital, Uttarakhand. During his posting in 15 Garhwal Regiment in Leh in 2006, he had opened firing with his official weapon and killed his colleague. He was court marshaled and awarded life imprisonment by an Army court in 2007. He was shifted to Kot Bhalwal jail on July 28, 2009 from District Jail, Leh.
Official sources said that the prisoners were engaged in normal working inside high security Kot Bhalwal jail premises when Sanaullah and Vinod Kumar had a tiff at 8.20 am after the former passed provocative remarks on Sarabjit Singh, who had been brutally assaulted and seriously injured by Pakistani prisoners in Lahore jail and had died yesterday morning.
Sanaullah is reported to have taunted Vinod Kumar, a dismissed Army jawan, that Pakistan has killed Sarabjit Singh and India did nothing. This irked Kumar, who hit Sanaullah with brick and shovel while working in the garden. Jail staff and other prisoners immediately separated both of them but by then the Pakistani militant had received serious injuries. The jail staff immediately shifted the injured prisoner to Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu, where he was kept in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
GMC Medical Superinte-ndent Dr Manoj Chalotra said senior faculty of the GMC examined the injured prisoner and provided him best possible treatment. However, he said, the doctors decided to refer the injured either to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi or PGI Chandigarh as both the Institutes were well equipped for neuro surgeries.
At 5.10 pm, an air ambulance took Sanaullah to PGI Chandigarh. The air ambulance was equipped with medical and para-medical staff.
Doctors, who attended upon Sanaullah in the GMC, said he had fractured ribs in head and face and multiple wounds in the head. Some part of the head had been crushed after being hit by the brick.
Sources said the Home Department and the DG Prisons have alerted all Jail Superintendents especially where Pakistani prisoners were lodged to take extra ordinary security measures inside the jail promises to ward off any possible backlash in retaliation to the killing of Sarabjit Singh and, prior to him, Chamel Singh of Pargwal, Akhnoor in Jammu, in Kot Lakhpat Rai jail of Lahore, Pakistan.
Gharota police station teams, headed by SHO Jatinder Samyal, have registered a FIR No. 39/2013 under Section 307 RPC against Vinod Kumar, who was still in Kot Bhalwal jail. Sources said police would seek his custody for questioning in connection with murderous assault on Sanaullah shortly through the court.
IGP Jammu Rajesh Kumar, DIG Jammu Shakeel Beig and officiating SSP Jammu Rajeshwar Singh visited the scene of crime for on spot investigations. Gharota police have seized the brick with which Vinod Kumar had attacked Sanaullah. However, police said though a shovel was also lying at the scene of crime, it was not clear whether it had also been used in the offence.
Acting tough, the Government ordered suspension of Kot Bhalwal Jail Superintendent Rajni Sehgal and four Jail Wardens, who were Incharge of taking care of prisoners during their morning work. The suspended officials have been charged with dereliction of duty. Sources said the Jail staff should have anticipated such a reaction after the killing of Sarabjit Singh and watched activities of the prisoners especially in the high security Kot Bhalwal Jail, which housed 22 Pakistani militants.
The Government has also ordered a high level inquiry into the incident, which would be conducted by either Principal Secretary (Home) Suresh Kumar or Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Pradeep Gupta. A formal order of inquiry was yet to be issued.
Sources said prior to detection of a tunnel in Kot Bhalwal jail few years back, the Pakistani and local prisoners used to be lodged separately in the barracks. However, as only Pakistani jail inmates were involved in digging the tunnel, which had been detected by the authorities, the jail staff had decided to club the local and Pakistani prisoners in the barracks to keep watch on activities of the Pakistani militants.
However, today’s incident took place in a garden outside the jail barrack during morning work by the prisoners.
IGP Jammu Rajesh Kumar has set up a five member SIT to investigate the case. The SIT is headed by SP Rural Rajesh Sharma and comprised SDPO Akhnoor Raees Ahmed, DySP Headquarters Rouf Lone, SHO Gharota Jatinder Samyal and an ASI.
Sanaullah had been lodged in different jails after he was first arrested in 1994 following his involvement in two blasts at Satwari and Nagrota. Though he was involved in some other militancy related incidents as well, he had been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the twin blasts.
He was in Kot Bhalwal jail since 1999.
He had been convicted in FIR Nos. 132/1994 and 164/1994 of Satwari and Nagrota police stations respectively under Sections 302, 307 and 120-B RPC and Prevention and Suppression of Sabotage Act besides other anti-militancy provisions.
In Nagrota police station FIR, Sanaullah was found involved in triggering a powerful blast in bus No. 3875 JK02B on November 20, 1994 in which 10 passengers were killed and 43 others were injured. He was convicted in the case on September 29, 2009 by the court and awarded life term.
In Satwari police station FIR, Sanaullah had caused a powerful blast in matador No. 0941 JK02A at Ashoka Crossing, Satwari on July 16, 1994 in which four passengers were killed and 16 others were injured. A challan in the case was produced on April 23, 2001 and he was convicted on July 28, 2009 and awarded life term by the court.
Sources said Vinod Kumar was posted in 15 Garhwal and had opened firing with his service weapon in 2006 during his posting in Leh killing his colleague. He was court marshaled and tried by a military court, which had awarded him life term in 2007 and dismissed him from services.
After spending some time in Leh jail, he had also been shifted to Kot Bhalwal jail.
Though agencies described the age of Sanaullah as 52, the jail records revealed that he was 64 years old.
PTI adds from New Delhi:
The condition of Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay was “stable”, India said today while terming as “regrettable” the incident in Jammu jail where he was injured during a scuffle with another inmate and assured the guilty will be punished even as Pakistan sought his urgent repatriation.
The Pakistan High Commission also sought immediate consular access to Sanaullah, to which India maintained that it will grant the access after doctors treating him give the go-ahead for the same. Sanaullah was serving a life term after being convicted under TADA provisions following his arrest in 1999.
“Pakistan High Commission has shown serious concern. It has taken up with Ministry of External Affairs the attack on Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah in Kot Bhalwal Jail in Jammu,” the Press Attache in the High Commission here said.
He added Pakistan had sought urgent repatriation of Sanaullah on humanitarian grounds for medical treatment there.
Pakistan has also sought airlifting of Sanaullah by an air ambulance to Pakistan and assistance in ground facilitation.
He said that apart from seeking immediate consular access, the High Commission has also asked for detailed information about the incident and medical facilities for the victim and security of other Pakistani inmates.
“We are aware of the regrettable incident involving a Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah who was injured today during an altercation with another inmate of the jail in Jammu. The matter is being investigated and the guilty will be punished. Safety and security of prisoners in custody lies with the jail authorities and the necessary action is being taken.
“We are in touch with the Pakistan High Commission on the matter. The injured is receiving the medical treatment and once the medical arrangements are in place, the consular access will be provided,” the spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs said.
He said the condition of the Pakistani prisoner was “stable but remains under medical watch”.
The MEA spokesperson also said that in view of these “tragic incidents”, which included the killing of two Indian prisoners in a Pakistani jail and that involving a Pakistani prisoner in a jail in Jammu today, there is a need to take stock of the current measures in place to ensure safety, security and humane treatment of Indian and Pakistani prisoners in each other’s jails.
“For this, we are proposing a meeting of the concerned authorities of both countries to study the recommendations and identify and put in place further measures to avoid such tragic incidents in future,” he said.
The spokesperson also referred to the Union Home Ministry’s circular advising states to strengthen the security of Pakistani prisoners in their respective jails.
There are nearly 535 Indian prisoners (including 483 fishermen) in Pakistani jails and a total of 270 Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails.
Later, Pakistani High Commissioner to India Salman Bashir said it was important that the agreements on consular access be fully respected and adhered to.
“I think Pakistan will not be averse to impartial investigation into the condition and plight of Pakistani prisoners in India,” he said.
Sanaullah was admitted to the Advanced Trauma Centre of PGIMER, Chandigarh, officials said.
Heavy police deployment has been made at the PGIMER to prevent any eventuality.
The prisoner is “critical” with severe head injuries and multiple fractures, PGIMER sources said.
Cases against Pak militant
FIR No. 132/1994 at Satwari police station. Triggered blast in Matador No. 0941 JK02A on 16/7/1994 at Ashoka Crossing, Satwari killing four persons and injuring 16.
FIR No. 164/1994 at Nagrota police station. Triggered blast in bus No. 3875 JK02B at Manda Morh, Nagrota on 20/11/1994 killing 10 passengers and injuring 43 others.
Awarded life term in Manda Morh blast on 25/9/2009 and life term in Satwari blast on 28/7/2009.
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