DC refutes reports of Amritpal Singh undergoing ‘hunger strike’

DIBRUGARH: Dibrugarh Deputy Commissioner Biswajit Pegu has denied reports that Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh is on a hunger strike in Dibrugarh Central Jail as claimed by Amritpal Singh’s wife Kirandeep Kaur. On Thursday Kirandeep Kaur had claimed that Amritpal who has been in Dibrugarh Central jail since April 23 has been on hunger strike with his associates. Ten Waris Punjab De members including Amritpal Singh are currently lodged in Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act (NSA).

On Friday, Dibrugarh DC Biswajit Pegu and SP Shwetank Mishra visited the jail and took stock of the facilities. After the visit, the Deputy Commissioner denied reports of any hunger strike by the Waris Punjab De members inside the jail.

The Deputy Commissioner told reporters, “There is no hunger strike inside the jail. We met them and found that their main grievance was they were not allowed access to phone calls. We have decided that from now they will be allowed to make one phone call once a week. Today in our presence, Amritpal Singh called up his wife over phone and talked to her. Only once there was food complaint. It has been sorted out.”

According to Kirandeep Kaur, Amritpal and his associates were on hunger strike to protest the “lack of facilities in the jail”. She said that she got to know about their protest during her weekly visit to Dibrugarh Jail on June 29.

She claimed the NSA detainees were not given permission to make phone calls and were being served poor quality food. She also complained that the person who is in charge of cooking uses tobacco and tobacco is found on food saying that this was against the Sikh religious code. She said that if the detained men were allowed to make calls, it would save their family members an estimated amount of Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 in travel expenses to Dibrugarh jail. She also claimed that there was a language barrier due to absence of an interpreter inside the jail and the Waris Punjab De members were facing difficulties in communicating to the prison staff and others.

Amritpal Singh’s advocate Simranjit Singh said over phone, “As per Punjab jail manual a prisoner is allowed to make phone calls to family members twice a week. But they are not getting the telephone facility there in Dibrugarh jail despite the fact that the cases against them are registered in Punjab. But it is not the fault of the Assam government as they have not received necessary communication from the Punjab government.”

Also Read:Assam: Miscreants Drug Driver and Steal Vehicle

Also Watch: