The recent case of inhuman assault on 50 undertrials at Colvale Central Jail, also known as the “Correction Home”, had shocked the entire state, so much so that, the government compelled to suspend the jail guards and the superintendent was transferred. But the story did not conclude here, the investigation commenced here that led to the revelation of many facts which will shock you further. According to the sources, the Colvale attack on undertrials was pre-planned out of the vengeance by former Sada jail officials who were unhappy with the decision of shifting of undertrials to the Colvale jail.
The sources from inside the jail revealed that the attack was pre-planned and it was directed towards the ex-Sada jail undertrials inmate. They were beaten up mercilessly by the force of more than 30 jail guards that too under the influence of alcohol. This entire exercise took place right in front of the jail superintendent, 2 Asst. jail superintendents and a jailor of Colvale jail, but the suspension of 4 jail guards was initiated by the government to keep the situation under control.
The above facts has been supported by the act of assailants from the central jail, according to which, the attack took place on Saturday evening between 5 to 7 pm when the 50 inmates from Mapusa jail and 73 from Sada sub jail were shifted to central jail and surprisingly none of the inmates from Mapusa jail were the part of the attack. When the investigation process started in this, it immediately came into the picture that the attack was pre-planned by jail officials and the same had the complete mandate of jail superintendent Melvyn Vaz, who has been suspended and the Asst. superintendent from Sada jail whose name is not been revealed as yet.
According to the sources, out of the 73 inmates shifted to Colvale, 20 were the foreign nationals, including Nigerian, Israeli etc. The list was prepared two days prior to their shifting to the Colvale jail. On the arrival of the inmates to the Colvale jail, their electronic items were confiscated and their heads were shaved. These things were offensive and disturbing as addressed by the senior administrator of Colvale jail. The investigation team raised the questions on this type of behavior of the officers.
The investigation further revealed that no medical facilities were provided to the trashed undertrials for two days after the assault, out of the fear that the matter might get exposed into the media. It was only on Monday when the undertrials were appeared before the NDPS court in drug-related cases with fractured legs and limbs they narrated the story of the inhuman behavior of jail officials to the presiding judge according to which they were beaten for around half an hour with lathis and stones. The assault was so severe that one jail inmate lost his one eye and other had his genitals swollen while two of them had leg and hand fractured and many have also suffered the head injuries. It was not only the assault that was inhuman but the shaving of their head with by labeling them as “non-practicing” and “non-acceptable” and the shaving the hair of Italian national who did not cut his hair in twenty years on the religious grounds was disgraceful.
The investigation also revealed that the assault was the result of a tussle between the jail guards and ex-Sada inmates whereby the latter apparently manhandle the jail guards over the issue that they were not allowed to carry their stuff with them inside the jail along with them. The Colvale complex is still under construction and it does not have any facilities in the place. The sources have revealed that there are no proper ventilation and no proper medical and canteen facilities too.
Another issue which is haunting the investigation team is why there was a hurry to transfer 123 jail inmates to Colvale on a single day? This fact has brought another shocking revelation into the light that all 73 Sada jail inmates were forcibly sent to Colvale jail. The reason behind not moving to the Colvale jail was the facilities they were getting at Sada sub-jail easily by paying Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 20,000 per month to the assistant jail superintendents.
The sources revealed that when the inmates from Sada sub-jail, especially the foreign nationals reached to the gate of Colvale Central jail they had been denied to carry the items which are banned into the jail premises. This resulted into the heated arguments with jail guards and few inmates staged the attack on the jail guards as a result of which more jail guards came to their rescue which concluded into the big fight.
The story does not end here, there are many more skeletons which are waiting to come out of the closet and it will be exposed one by one with more facts comes out in the investigations. This news has already clarified the image of operation in the jail. The things are not as simple as they look from outside, there is a separate world of criminal and police nexus which works undercover. The system runs smoothly till it is challenged by someone. A similar thing happened in the above case. The Colvale central jail system did not allow the irregularities which were allowed in the Sada sub-jail by the assistant superintendents by collecting rupees 15 to 20 thousand per month from the inmates. Under this kind of circumstances, criminals do not feel the fear of going behind the bar as they have lawyers to take care of their rights and police to take care of them at the cost.
They make sure that they get enough of funds by way of criminal activities to take care of all these expenses. How sad it is to know the senior officials in the jail allow all illegal activities by collecting the money that too from the criminals. Do you think that this assault case could have been avoided if the Colvale jail officials were allowed the jail inmates to carry whatever they want inside the jail? They could have also given the facilities by charging the inmates which would have resulted into the friendship between the lawmakers and criminals and there would have been no fights? Please do not forget to leave your comments and suggestions on this very serious issue.
Source: Various Sources
Edited by Goa Prism News Desk
