Alleged desecration of religious literature led to violence inside the central jail in Srinagar last week, a group of lawyers Tuesday told a court in a report after visiting the city prison.
Violence erupted inside the jail on Friday night whichlasted for hours until the next morning as a blaze destroyed some structures inthe prison premises.
The group of lawyers submitted their report to the court ofprincipal sessions judge Srinagar, in which they note that the violent incidentwas triggered when jail inmates saw desecration of the religious literature inthe prison.
It said that inmates of the adjacent barracks of A-1 and 1-Bheard sounds of dismantling the cells.
“When the inmates peeped through the windows, they saw somenon-local laborers dismantling the cells and throwing the Islamic literaturebooks…,” the lawyers’ report reads.
Quoting jail inmates, the report says that upon seeing allthis, the inmates shouted and requested them to retrieve the religiousliterature “but CRPF troopers created poked their canes through thewindows resulting in eye injury to one of the inmates.”
“Then at around 9:35 to 9:40, some stones were pelted fromoutside and within no time, Barracks were opened up. Reacting to this, theforces fired tear smoke shells, some of which hit the fiber shed meant forcutting and tailoring purposes where there was sufficient clothing’s and rawmaterial for cutting and tailoring which caught fire instantly,” the reportreads.
Quoting inmates, the report says forces showered pellets onthe inmates resulting in serious injuries to ten of them, “out of which twoinmates are still critical and are admitted at police hospital PCR Srinagar.”
The report has indentified the injured inmates as Aabid NabiKachroo, Mukhtar Ahmad Sheikh, Muhammad Iqbal, Ishfaq Ahmad, Abrar Ahmad, SahilLone, Hanzala Afzal, Waseem Ahmad, Mushtaq Ahmad, Muhammad Iqbal.
“All the inmates of the Central Jail Srinagar were onprotest and demanded transfer of superintendent central jail Srinagar. Theprisoners also threatened of indefinite hunger strike in case of their shiftingor incriminating any inmate a fresh FIR regarding the incident (sic),” thereport says.