This Article is From Apr 03, 2012

Inquiry ordered into alleged VIP treatment given to Jagir Kaur at Kapurthala jail

Chandigarh: Amid reports that a 32-inch LCD TV, a direct-to-home dish antenna and an air-conditioner were being installed at a ward in the Kapurthala Central Jail for former Punjab minister Bibi Jagir Kaur, a top Punjab Police officer has ordered an inquiry into the matter. Jagir Kaur was sentenced to five years in jail on Friday.

"I have ordered an inquiry and deputed a senior officer to conduct the probe. He will visit the jail and look into all the reports. Rules will have to be followed," Punjab DGP (Prisons) Shashi Kant told PTI.

The top police officer also added that he has shot off a letter to the Kapurthala jail superintendent and has asked him to strictly follow rules. "My one-line instruction to him was that rules have to be observed. I am also sending a team for inspection to Kapurthala jail. I have asked the jail superintendent to follow rules at all costs."  

Asked to comment on reports that an LCD TV and a dish antenna were installed in the jail yesterday, he said that as per the information given to him by the jail superintendent, the articles have not made their way inside the complex where prisoners are lodged. "The jail superintendent said the TV could have been purchased by someone living in the residential complex inside the jail," he said.

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court in Patiala has sentenced Jagir Kaur to five years rigorous imprisonment on counts of forcible abortion, wrongful confinement, abduction and criminal conspiracy. She has, however, been absolved of the charges of murdering her daughter, Harpreet Kaur, 19, who died 12 years ago.

After her conviction and arrest, 57-year-old Jagir Kaur was forced to resign as Punjab's minister for rural water supply and sanitation and defence services, but it was clear that she still had ample political clout. She was sentenced to be lodged at the Patiala jail, but within hours of her conviction, her request that she be transferred to the Kapurthala jail was accepted. Jagir Kaur, who heads a cash-rich "dera" (sect) in Begowal village, belongs to the Kapurthala district.

On the day of her arrest, video footage showed the Bibi being driven up to the jail in an air-conditioned Innova car. Jail authorities have reportedly ensured that her lodgings are at a distance from other inmates in the women's ward.

To express solidarity with the former minister, a number of people including her family members and supporters have been thronging the jail complex. Reports say older visitors are ferried inside the jail in a car particularly meant for the purpose. There are also allegations that some among the beeline of visitors bring "lots of fruits" with them for Jagir Kaur. According to an eyewitness, the surplus food is later distributed among other jail inmates.

While the heavy rush of visitors has triggered more allegations of special treatment being meted out to the leader, the police only have this to say: "According to jail rules, friends and relatives can meet her.  There is no specified number in jail manuals."

Last week, Punjab Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira had demanded the sacking of some jail officials for allegedly touching the feet of Jagir Kaur after her conviction.

Jagir Kaur's daughter Harpreet Kaur was found dead on April 20, 2000, when Jagir Kaur was president of the powerful Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). She was rushed to hospital from her mother's home by a domestic help and a doctor who later turned approver in the case. Doctors declared her dead on arrival, and no post-mortem was conducted.

On April 27, a man named Kamaljit Singh petitioned the Punjab High Court to commission an inquiry into Harpreet's death. He said Harpreet had married him secretly because her mother was opposed to their relationship. He produced photos and a video of their wedding to support his allegations. He said Harpreet was pregnant with their child and that Jagir Kaur had forced her to have an abortion.

Jagir Kaur was forced to quit her SGPC post. The case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation. But it was a complex one, mainly because the investigation only began a few months after Harpreet's death and since there was no post-mortem conducted. Many witnesses turned hostile since the trial began, including Kamaljit Singh, who later said that the video of the wedding that he had submitted was a ceremony staged on camera to pressure Jagir Kaur; he said he did not actually marry Harpreet.

Jagir Kaur and six other people were tried for Harpreet's murder. Three of the others were convicted in the case, one died during the course of the trial; two others were acquitted on Friday.

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