Nabha jailbreak: Sukhbir speaks to NSA; Govt orders formation of inquiry panel

Chandigarh: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday spoke to National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and apprised him of the details of the Nabha jailbreak incident and updated him on the steps being taken to apprehend the culprits. Sukhbir Singh Badal is also going to the affected jail in Nabha for an on-the-spot review of the situation, whereas Punjab Director General of Police Suresh Arora is already in Nabha, said a statement issued by the Punjab Chief Minister's Office here. After a group of armed men in police uniform broke into high security the Nabha Central jail and took along six inmates, including two Khalistan liberation force militants and four gangsters, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal held a high-level meeting of the civil and police administration, including intelligence officials, in the morning to review the situation. Meanwhile, the statement said, the state government took a series of administrative steps and a red alert has been sounded throughout the state, besides, tightening security apparatus at all jails. Both the Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent of the Nabha jail have been dismissed with immediate effect, following the incident. The state government has also ordered the constitution of an inquiry committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Jagpal Singh Sandhu to look into the security lapses that led to the jailbreak. Meanwhile, ADGP (Railways) Rohit Chaudhary has been posted as new ADGP (Jails) in place of MK Tiwari, who has been placed under suspension, and S. Bhupati as the Superintendent of Nabha High Security Jail. The state government has announced a reward of Rs. 25 lakh to any person providing information leading to the arrest of these six escaped undertrial prisoners. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed by the Punjab Police to investigate the escape of six under-trials. Additional Director General of Police, Internal Vigilance Cell, Prabodh Kumar would head the SIT comprising IGP, Patiala Zone, Paramraj Singh; IGP Ishwar Singh; IGP, Counter Intelligence, Nilabh Kishore; DIG, Patiala Range, Amar Singh Chahal; and Patiala SSP Gurmeet Chouhan. At the same time, a massive manhunt has been launched to nab the escaped prisoners, and all districts have been alerted to lay 'nakas' (barricades) and conduct mobile patrolling to nab the escapees. As per report, the escapees have been identified as Khalistan liberation force chief Harvinder Mintoo and Amandeep Dodaand, and "dreadful" gangsters Vicky Gonder, Gurpreet Sekhon, Neeta Deol and Amandeep Dhotia.