After Allegations of Branding Undertrial With 'Terrorist', Punjab Govt Orders Probe

A 28-year-old prisoner in a jail in Barnala in Punjab has accused the jail superintendent of torture and inscribing the word “aatankwadi” (terrorist) on his back with an iron rod.

Taking cognizance of the incident, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa has ordered a thorough inquiry and a medical examination of prisoner Karamjit Singh.

The undertrial prisoner facing a life sentence in a murder case made the allegation at a court in Mansa district. “The condition of inmates is deplorable. People diagnosed with AIDS and hepatitis are not kept in separate wards, and whenever I tried raising the issue of ill-treatment, the jail superintendent would beat me,” the NDTV quoted him.

DIG Ferozepur, Tajinder Singh Maur, will conduct the inquiry. Meanwhile, the jail superintendent, Balbir Singh, has denied all charges and accused him of being a “repeat offender who has a habit of sharing concocted stories”.

He said, “He faces trial under 11 cases, ranging from NDPS Act to murder, and now he is making these allegations because he is upset with us… we keep searching the barracks and last time we found a cell phone in his barrack…. even when he was lodged in Sangrur district.”

Akali Dal leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa tweeted on Wednesday about the incident and shared pictures of the complainant where the inscription is visible. Sirsa demanded “strict action for the officials”.

He slammed the Congress government to “paint Sikhs as terrorists” and called for attention towards the “serious human rights violation”

“Malicious intent of Congress government to paint Sikhs as terrorists! Punjab Police beats undertrial Sikh prisoner and engraves word ‘atwadi’ on his back. We demand immediate suspension of jail superintendent and strict action for human rights violation,” Sirsa’s tweet read.

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