Torture of Kashmir prisoners in Tihar jail: Mehbooba calls up Home Secy, gets assurance on probe

Srinagar: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday expressed serious concern over the alleged harassment and physical torture of Kashmiri prisoners at the Tihar Central Jail in New Delhi.
Taking a serious view of these reports, the Chief Minister spoke to Union Home Secretary, Rajiv Gauba and asked him to intervene in the matter, said an official handout. The Union Home Secretary assured the Chief Minister of a thorough probe into the incident and punishing the culprits for having violated the jail manual.
Violation of fundamental, human and legal rights of prisoners, who have alleged they were subjected to severe physical torture at the Tihar Jail on Monday came under the Delhi High Court’s scanner as it ordered an enquiry into the incident.
The high court termed as “very disturbing” the alleged attack on inmates lodged in a high-risk ward in jail number 1 of the central jail on the night of November 21.
“We need to take a call. It (the incident) is completely unjustifiable. If this is the situation in Delhi, what about other places,” a bench of acting-Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar remarked.
It said that the issue was “extremely serious” and required a “serious probe”, before an intervention by this court.
It appointed a three-member fact-finding committee, headed by a district judge of a trial court, to enquire into the incident, in which 18 inmates were allegedly beaten up by the jail staff, and submit their report before it.
The high court was hearing a PIL by an advocate Chinmay Kanojia, who has alleged that his client Shahid Yusuf, currently being investigated by the National Investigation Agency and undergoing trial, was beaten up without any reason by the Tihar Jail staff.
The plea by advocate Jawahar Raja said a particular community, including Yusuf, were being targeted by the jail staff causing serious injuries to him and others.