An undertrial at Alipore Central jail pounced on a warder for no apparent reason on Friday evening, leaving him seriously injured.
Seeing a bleeding Sunil Maddi slump to the ground, his 300-odd colleagues in the jail gheraoed the superintendent for two hours, baying for the undertrial’s blood.
“The warders kept insisting that they be allowed to teach Sukhdev Singh, an accused in an abduction case, a lesson and that he be handed over to them. Tempers cooled after senior officers assured the protesters that a case would be slapped on Singh for the assault,” said a source in the jail.
Friday’s incident was just another in a series of unrest in jails in and around the city in the recent past. In September 2008, an undertrial died after warders baton-charged two warring groups of inmates at Presidency jail.
A probe revealed that Mohammad Azharuddin, accused of murder and dacoity, died of head injuries.
In January this year, more than 60 inmates of Howrah jail set ablaze the superintendent’s room and broke open two gates in a bid to escape. The rioting mob was allegedly led by murder accused Rahul Mullick and Suraj Mullick.
Friday’s trouble at Alipore Central jail broke out around 5pm when a group of undertrials was brought from court. “Following the norm, the undertrials were asked to queue up in front of the jail office for frisking,” said an officer.
Maddi was carrying out the search. “When Singh’s turn came, Maddi went close to him to check whether he had tucked anything in the waist. The undertrial, who was involved in a scuffle with warders in Dum Dum Central jail last year, suddenly punched Maddi in his face,” said a witness.
The warder suffered fractures in the nose and bruises on the lips. Other warders immediately overpowered Sukhdev and dragged him to his cell. The incident triggered instant protest from around 300 warders who gathered in front of the superintendent’s office and gheraoed him, demanding that Singh be handed over to them.
The jail authorities then held a meeting with the warders and assured them that Singh would face trial for assaulting Maddi.
