Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Prisons for Vellore Range V.H. Mohamed Haneefa started an inquiry at the Coimbatore Central Prison on Friday regarding the video showing alleged harassment of prison inmates.
It is learnt that the inquiry would be on the content of the seven-minute video and also use of mobile phones at Coimbatore Central prison. The video has gone viral during the last two days and it is about three inmates who are in isolated cells in the prison.
The inquiry began on directions from the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Prison, J.K. Tripathy.
A senior official at the prison here said that the authorities here had initiated internal inquiry on Thursday. Contending that the convicts or the other inmates were not harassed, he claimed that some convicts who resisted reformation were at times kept under observation and given individual focus to help them in the reformation process. It is learnt that no action was taken against any prison staff or convict till Friday.
Mr. Tripathy told The Hindu that necessary action would be taken on those found guilty depending on the findings of the inquiry.
Prisoners seek transfer
Meanwhile, the three convicts shown in the video have told lawyers here on Friday that they want to be transferred from the Coimbatore Central Prison to another prison, said lawyers N. Paneerselvam and K. Tholkappian of the Human Rights Advocates Committee.
They met the convicts shown in the video on Friday and later told presspersons that the three were not harmed physically but were allegedly threatened by prison staff. Mr. Tholkappian said that they have informed the families of the convicts S. Naveen alias Navaneedhakrishnan (29) of Krishnagiri, M. Iyyappan (27) of Gudiyatham in Vellore District and A. Devaraj (58) of Salem that they want to be shifted. “Petitions seeking transfer will be sent to judicial and prison authorities concerned through their family,” he added.
