JAIPUR: A prisoner serving a life-term for murder in the Sewer jail of Bharatpur in Rajasthan on Wednesday complained that prison authorities forcibly cut his hair. District authorities said the complaint was prima facie a "concocted story." However, they have initiated an enquiry.

The allegation comes in the wake of some miscreants cutting the hair of a Sikh student here.

Pratap Singh, who has been in the jail since 2003, alleged that he was forcibly taken from his cell on Thursday morning and given a hair cut by head constable Chandan Singh in front of authorities. He was also subjected to physical assault, the complaint said.

"It is appears to be a cooked-up story," District Collector R. Veketeshwaran, who visited the jail soon after the complaint along with Superintendent of Police Anand Srivastava, told The Hindu . "We asked Pratap Singh whether he had changed his clothes or had a bath after the incident and he answered in the negative. However, when he was examined, no trace of hair was found on his body. There were no scratches or other signs of use of force," Mr. Venketeshwaran noted.

Mr. Srivastava said Pratap Singh had in the past sought a transfer to a jail either in Srigangangar (his hometown) or Bikaner. The request was not granted. His request for parole too was rejected as he was not found to be behaving properly. "We checked with the staff and the visitors at the gate but nobody has testified seeing the incident," he said.

The authorities point out that even though the prisoner had accused that Jail Superintendent Samudra Singh, was also present at the time of the alleged act, in reality he was away in the capital.

According to the prisoner, the Chief Warder Yusuf Ali too was present, but was not involved in the incident. at the time of the incident— though not involved-- the latter Mr. Ali has subsequently refuted Pratap's statement. denied it. Mr. Ali However, he said Pratap Singh had come to his room in the morning.

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