Jail mutiny over Tihar transfer

Cops quell uprising, manage to take out 4 rebel prisoners from Manipur prison

Imphal, Dec 27 : Inmates of Manipur’s Sajiwa Jail this morning protested against the shifting of four militants from the prison to Delhi’s Tihar Jail. Police thereafter had to lob teargas shells and resort to a lathicharge in an effort to quell the revolt. Despite the protest, the police managed to take the four militants, detained under the National Security Act, out of the jail and brought them to Imphal airport where a special BSF flight was kept ready for their transfer. An official source said a police team accompanied the four prisoners to Delhi. They were shifted because the inmates reportedly continued to have contact with their comrades outside. The names of the four militants and their groups have not been officially disclosed. However, sources said the transferred militants are S. Nongdrenkhomba (Kangleipak Communist Party-Military Council), P. Leibakchao (Kuki Revolutionary Army-Unification), Kh. Raju (Kuki Revolutionary Army-Unification) and Th. Robin (Peoples Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak). The sources said when a police team arrived at the jail, located at Khabeisoi in Imphal East district, at 8am today, the inmates, mostly militants, revolted against the shifting of the four prisoners. As the situation became tense, additional forces led by the superintendent of police Imphal East, Th. Radheshyam Singh, rushed to the spot and quelled the uprising. Radheshyam Singh confirmed the shifting of the four prisoners to Tihar jail. The sources said the police beat up several inmates who protested the shifting of their colleagues and had to use teargas to bring them under control. The inmates reportedly pelted stones at the police party. The police finally brought the situation under control within half an hour of the uprising with assistance from the CRPF personnel guarding the jail. With this move, the number of prisoners shifted from Manipur to Tihar jail this month has gone up to five. On December 19, M.I. Khan, a senior leader of the Peoples United Liberation Front, was shifted to Tihar from Manipur Central Jail, located in the city. However, there had been no problem when Khan was shifted. Sajiwa jail has a dubious distinction of witnessing riots by inmates. There were two clashes among inmates, mostly militants, at this jail this year. On May 24, two groups of inmates clashed, leaving nearly 40 prisoners wounded. In the second clash on November 20, two groups of inmates belonging to two rival militant groups left seven wounded. Four of them had to be admitted to Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital. An official source said the state government had decided to shift the four to Tihar following an acute shortage of staff. The jail can accommodate 400 inmates. At present, more than 500 prisoners are lodged there.