AMRITSAR: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Thursday raided the Amritsar Central Jail and arrested its Superintendent S P Singh, Deputy Superintendent Avinash Chander and two others on various charges, including corruption.

Others who were arrested included Head Warder Gurdeep Singh and canteen incharge Baldev Singh. Another member of the jail staff Bhadaur Singh however managed to give the slip to the raiding party.

They were all booked under sections 409 and 420 of the IPC and various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act registered at the Vigilance Bureau (VB) police station at Amritsar. Giving details of the raid, Superintendent of Police (VB), R P S Bajwa said that the raid was conducted following an inquiry conducted by the Bureau into the functioning of the jail. The inquiry found various irregularities of the jail functioning including buying ration less than the sanctioned amount, he added.

Mr Bajwa said that on May 18 this year the first raid was conducted by the VB and certain documents were seized. An examination of these documents found that the monthly ration purchased was not in proportion to the sanctioned amount, he added.

The officer said that thereafter a detailed inquiry was conducted. It was after the completion of the inquiry that a raid was carried out today, he added.

Giving details of the inquiry he said that irregularities to the tune of about Rs 36 lakh were found in the purchase of ration. He said the VB was also looking into reports of certain other irregularities in the jail's functioning including reports of supply of unauthorised drugs to the jail inmates and accepting bribes from convicts and undertrials for granting them favours.

Mr Bajwa said that further investigations in the case registered by the VB are likely to throw more light on ``what was going on inside the high security jail''. UNI

Irregularities to the tune of about Rs 36 lakh detected in the purchase of ration

One member of the jail staff managed to escape

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