Tihar directed to take action in violence matter inside jail

A Delhi court today directed the Tihar Jail authorities here to take appropriate action in an alleged incident of violence against some suspected ISIS operatives and other inmates inside the prison.

District Judge Poonam Bamba passed the directions while disposing of a plea filed by three persons -- Suhail Ahmed, Mohd Obaidullah Khan and Imran, who are lodged in a high-risk ward of the central jail on charges of recruiting and financing people to join the terror outfit.

The application filed by advocate M S Khan on behalf of the accused claimed that on the night of November 21, the jail staff beat up the inmates of the high-risk ward without any provocation.
 

The lawyer said that 26 inmates were injured but were not being provided medical treatment.

"The violence in jail against the inmates by the jail staff is on the rise and every day inmates are complaining of the same," the plea had said.

It also said that "whenever such incidents happen, the jail authorities come up with a plea that CCTVs were not working and this has become their habit" and sought direction to the jail superintendent to file a response in this regard along with the CCTV footage.

A number of complaints have been filed by various inmates in the recent past alleging use of violence against them inside the prison.

The Delhi High Court had in September directed the jail authorities to conduct a probe and get 47 inmates, who had alleged that they were mercilessly beaten up by security personnel inside the prison, medically examined.

In another matter, 27-year-old Shamiun Rahman, a British national of Bangladeshi origin arrested for allegedly recruiting Rohingya youths for al-Qaeda to carry out terror activities, had moved a Delhi court alleging sexual harassment inside the jail.

A Delhi court had in September sought the response from the jail authorities on a plea seeking action against erring prison staff for allegedly assaulting a close aide of gangster Neeraj Bawana and other inmates.