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Tribune News service
Ludhiana, July 1
Four days after violence at the Ludhiana Central Jail on Tajpur Road, kin of deceased Ajit Singh Baba (21) finally cremated his body today. Ajit had died in police firing on June 27 when violence broke out in the jail. The jail inmates had reportedly protested after getting news about the death of an inmate, Sunny Sood.
Ajit’s family agreed to cremate the body after a meeting with DCP Ashwani Kapoor today. His body was kept at the Ludhiana Civil Hospital mortuary.
His family had accused a policeman of firing at him. They had refused to cremate the body, demanding an FIR against the policeman.
Harjinder Singh, father of the deceased, said: “We cremated the body of our son today. We agreed to perform cremation to avoid disrespect to our son’s mortal remains. A legal procedure will be followed to fight the battle against the policeman who murdered our son. We are going to move the Punjab and Haryana High Court to get justice.”
Harjinder, who was once a worker of the Lok Insaaf Party, said: “I am a Congress worker but my son has been killed under the Congress government. No action is being taken against the policeman responsible for my son’s death. This is highly unjust.”
Earlier, Ajit’s mother Meera Rani had alleged that her son was shot dead by a jail officer in front of her eyes. Following her complaint, DCP, Ashwani Kapoor had marked an inquiry to the ADCP-IV.
Lok Insaaf Party chief and MLA Simarjeet Singh Bains said the family members met him today. “The cremation has got nothing to do with legal battle ahead. Our party will support the family to file petition before the High Court. We are not going to spare the jail officials who had opened firing at inmates and killed Ajit.”
Kin of 300 inmates pay visit
The jail authorities allowed the kin to meet the inmates at Ludhiana Central Jail on Monday. Jail Superintendent Shamsher Singh said family members of around 300 inmates visited the jail to meet them. The meeting between inmates and members of their families remained peaceful. They were allowed to meet the inmates from 8:30 am to 5 pm. Long queues of family members were seen at the jail. However, the inmates, who have been allegedly booked for violence in the jail, were not allowed to meet their families.
Rights activists seek judicial probe
Ludhiana: Members of Universal Human Rights Organisation have requested the sessions judge to conduct a judicial inquiry into the alleged indiscriminate firing at jail inmates in Ludhiana. President of the organisation Satnam Singh Dhaliwal said the firing on the jail inmates was still a mystery and the real facts had been hidden by the jail authorities. He alleged that two jail inmates had been murdered in June 2018 and April 2019 by other inmates. He alleged that three jail inmates had committed suicide in a short span of time. All these incidents clearly indicate the lack of safe custody of jail inmates. He said all facts would come to light if a judicial inquiry was conducted by the sessions judge or under his supervision.
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