Punjab jail riot: 3 officials injured, probe ordered

Chandigarh, April 22 (IANS) Three officials of Punjab's Faridkot town jail were injured Monday in a clash with inmates following the death of a prisoner, police said. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has ordered a magisterial enquiry.

The inmates went on the rampage and damaged property inside the prison, police officials in Faridkot, 250 km from here, police said.

Police reinforcements and fire brigade had to be rushed into the jail complex to control the situation.

The deputy jail superintendent and two other jail officials were injured in the clash. The inmates even set some property on fire inside the jail complex.

The prison inmates were protesting the death of a prisoner under mysterious circumstances Sunday night. The prisoner, Harsha Singh, 70, was arrested April 18 under the Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

A government spokesman said that the prisoner "apparently died of a cardiac arrest early today Monday) morning". He said that other inmates protested against the jail's medical staff, blaming his death on lack of proper and timely medical attention.

The inmates claimed that this was the fourth death of a prisoner inside the jail complex in recent weeks.

"The protestors also set fire to jail property in the canteen and caused disturbance for some time before the situation was brought under control by the district administration and police," the spokesman said, adding that this was the third death of a prisoner in the jail in the past fortnight.