Was this an incident waiting to happen ? For years Sajiwa jail had gained a certain degree of notoriety with criminals calling the shot from inside the jail and harassing the people outside. One just has to recollect the clash amongst the jail inmates some years back to understand how bad the situation was at some point of time. Memories of jail inmates smuggling in tobacco items inside the jail premises must still be fresh in the minds of many and it was only some time back that the jail authorities cracked down on the unlawful activities inside the jail and things seemed to have improved. However the death of three inmates in a brawl inside the jail on July 30 has once again underlined the point that something is seriously wrong inside the jail. Moreover there are still a lot of unanswered questions as to how the three inmates first got into a brawl that led to the death of one, who incidentally happened to be a native of Manipur. What is clear so far is that the native jail inmate was first killed by the two Saudi Nationals and this prompted the other inmates to lynch the two foreign Nationals. What is however not clear is why did the two gang up against the State native in the first place ? Perhaps the answer may never be known now as the three who were directly involved in the brawl are dead.
The two Saudi Nationals were arrested and jailed in 2013 for not possessing valid documents. This much is clear and equally clear too is the point that a lot still need to be done to improve things inside the jail. A jail should never be a place to give a free hand to hard core criminals and killing someone is definitely a criminal act and this is what has happened inside the jail. Let the authority study what triggered the first murder. There may not be a definite answer here but it is more than obvious that there must have been some solid reason for the murder to take place. What was it that made the two foreign Nationals gang up against a State native and then kill him ? How long was the State native in jail ? In the face of little or no information on the background of the two foreign Nationals it is impossible to even remotely assume anything. Hard core criminals should be kept in isolation and Sajiwa jail will surely have isolation cells where hard core criminals can be kept. A jail should house criminals but it should not be a place to carry out criminal activities. This is the bottom line. Now with a probe ordered let things unfold.
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