At least 24 members of the Indian National League Party were arrested for staging a protest in front of the Central Prison here on Tuesday condemning the alleged torture of two prisoners – ‘TADA’ Aslam and ‘Tenkasi’ Haneefa – lodged in the jail.
The demonstrators led by party State president J.Abdul Raheem alleged that the prison authorities had kept the two prisoners in separate cells and had been torturing them physically and mentally.
While Aslam is a life convict sentenced in a murder case, Haneefa is a remand prisoner in a case of murder. The protestors urged the Prisons Department to initiate action against the Jail Superintendent and the Deputy Superintendent.
Earlier, they took out a short procession raising slogans and attempted to lay siege to the jail when they were arrested by the police. A posse of police personnel were deployed at the entrance of the Central Prison.
Prison authorities, however, categorically denied the allegations and maintained that the prisoners were kept along with other inmates and they were not subjected to any harassment or torture.
