Kashmiri prisoner injured in police action inside Poonch District Jail
Jammu: A Kashmiri political prisoner sustained injuries when Indian police personnel resorted to a brutal lathi charge on inmates inside the Poonch District Jail in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the incident occurred after a group of Kashmiri political prisoners demanded a separate barrack and jail facilities for themselves. In response, jail authorities called in police forces who violently charged at the inmates.
One under-trial prisoner, Adil Hamid Dar from Shopian, was injured in the assault and shifted to the District Hospital in Poonch. His condition is stated to be stable.
Following the incident, additional police personnel were deployed in the jail premises to prevent further unrest, officials said.
It is pertinent to mention that in Poonch District Jail, Kashmiri inmates are facing religious persecution under the supervision of Jail officer DSP Khalid Amin, a resident of Poonch. According to detainees, he has ordered the forcible shaving of beards of Muslim prisoners and has imposed ban on the recitation of the Holy Qur’an within the jail premises. The police officer Khalid Amin has also been implicated in the custodial killing of Zia Mustafa, a Hurriyat activist, further highlighting the violent and discriminatory attitude of prison authorities towards Kashmiri political prisoners.
