Bathinda jail shooting: Probe indicts 5 officials

Varinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 20

Five officials, including a jail superintendent, have been indicted by a departmental probe into the shooting of an inmate by his rival gang member with a .12 bore pistol inside the Bathinda jail.

The Jail Department has already suspended Assistant Superintendent Balbir Singh, Head Warder Harbans Singh and Warder Labh Singh for the April 16 incident. But no action has been taken against Jail Superintendent Raj Mohinder Singh and a deputy superintendent so far.

The jail authorities have also shifted 10 inmates and members of two gangs to other jails to avoid any clash between them.

Sohan Singh Thandal, Jails Minister, said: “The Jail Superintendent is equally responsible for the negligence along with other officials. He is responsible to prevent any untoward incident inside the jail. We are awaiting the outcome of the police and magisterial probes”.

Located at the middle of the city, the Central Jail witnessed a bloody clash on April 16 with a gang leader Kulbir Naruana opening fire at his rival Gurdip Singh Mahna. Besides a country-made pistol, two used and two live cartridges were recovered from the site. While Naruana is said to be facing 16 cases, at least 14 cases were registered against his rival Mahna.

The probe authorities are suspecting that the pistol was thrown inside the jail by Naruana’s gang members who remained in touch with him over the phone.

“We have identified an inmate who had picked up the pistol and handed it over to Naruana. He is Kulbir gang’s member Jathinder Singh Laadi,” said Deputy Inspector General (Jails) Lakhminder Singh Jakhar.

Admitting that the incident was of a “very serious nature,” Thandal said his department was reviewing the security arrangements of all 28 state jails particularly those situated in the cities and townships. He said Laadi had admitted that he had picked up the pistol from along the boundary wall and buried it in the jail complex before delivering it to Naruana.

“Our investigation revealed that the pistol had reached Naruana a day before the incident,” he added.