Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir authorities imposed restrictions on civilian movement in parts of Srinagar’s downtown area, while high speed internet was shut off in the Kashmir Valley after a protest broke out in the city’s largest prison complex Thursday night.
Locals claimed that the violent confrontation between the jail authorities and inmates started when the inmates were asked to shift from their barracks. The claim was confirmed to ThePrint by multiple police officials Friday.
However, the police’s version of the event is quite different to that of the residents of the area and the family members of the inmates, who have accused jail authorities of high-handedness.
‘Tear gas & pepper gas continued all night’
Several residents of Rainawari, where the Srinagar central jail is located, said they heard loud bangs emanating from the prison complex at around 9 pm, which they believe came from tear gas shells. Residents also said motor shelling did not come to a halt till early Friday morning.
The shelling, according to one local, would halt for a few minutes, only to give way to sloganeering and noise made by the inmates.
“Our entire neighbourhood was filled with smoke from tear gas shells. The police must have used a lot of pepper gas too, as our houses were enveloped by the foul smell. Every few minutes, there was a loud bang followed by noises and slogans raised by the inmates,” said a local who wished not to be named.
Also read: Clashes breakout in Srinagar Central Jail, security increased
Angry families question police
By 9 am Friday, the prison complex was surrounded by anxious locals and families of those who were lodged inside the prison complex. Police officials and CRPF troopers guarding the main entrance to the prison were confronted by the angry families who wanted know whether their relatives lodged inside the jail were safe.
The queries of the families snowballed into heated discussions, prompting security forces to forcefully remove the families from the front gate.
An hour later, most of the families shifted to a nearby park, where they awaited official word.
A woman who did not want to be named said: “We heard about the incident last night and arrived at the jail at 6 am. No official came to talk to us. We have only seen fire tenders and ambulances entering and leaving the premises. Some policemen were kind enough to tell us what had happened but no one has come to speak to us officially.”
The woman, along with other family members, accused the jail authorities of beating the inmates indiscriminately — a charge denied by police officials.
A jail staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity said tensions began at around 4 pm Thursday when some of the prisoners were told they needed to change barracks. Some of the prisoners were fasting on the occasion of Shab-e-Meraj (the night that Allah took Prophet Muhammad on a journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and then to heaven) and resisted the idea, leading to heated arguments.
Tariq Ahmed, whose brother is also an inmate, said he managed to speak to some jail staffers, who informed him that the situation escalated very quickly after this.
“There is a constant problem here. The jail authorities have made it so difficult for us to meet our relatives for the last one year, and last night they pushed the limits. We heard that gas cylinder explosions have taken place inside the jails. Police have used pellet guns and even bullets. We are not being told how many or who has been injured,” Ahmed said.
Also read: J&K restricts civilian vehicle movement on national highway after Pulwama, Banihal attacks
Inmates used routine procedure to instigate riot: Police
The police denied the allegations levelled at them, stating that a simple routine procedure was used to instigate a “riot”. Police officials related to the case refused to delve details of the incident, including number of injured people on both sides of the confrontation.
J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh did not respond to calls, while Srinagar deputy commissioner Shahid Iqbal Choudhary’s phone remained unavailable till this report was published.
However, official sources said two inmates had received serious injuries and were taken to the police control room hospital.
“This was a full-fledged arson and an attempted prison break. The inmates were the ones who exploded gas cylinders and set buildings on fire. The violence has now been contained with the due diligence of the authorities. The instigators and organisers of the riot will be booked,” said a senior J&K police official, requesting not to be named.
Families of the inmates, however, denied the police’s claims, and instead claimed it was the CRPF which was “controlling the prison” and not the local police. They said the issue of barracks might have prompted the protests, but tensions had been simmering in the prison for quite some time now.
“Ever since CRPF has taken control of the prison, there have been a lot of tensions. The checking is extremely stringent, making it difficult for us to see our family members. Even the food that we get for our family members is not spared,” the woman quoted above said.
“They insert iron rods in dals and vegetables to check if there is anything in it, and even make us taste the food. We tell them why would we poison our sons but they don’t listen. The J&K Police is not in control. Only when they have to harass the inmates, they appear.”
However, a senior J&K Police official refuted the charges, saying the administration was simply following guidelines issued by the Centre and the state government.
Stringent standard operating procedures were introduced by the Centre last year when a Lashkar-e-Taiba militant Naveed Jatt escaped from a city hospital, where he had been taken for treatment.