Shillong, Oct 10: As part of their ongoing protest, agitating staff of the Shillong District Jail today started their second phase of agitation by staging an “indefinite-strike” inside the jail premises demanding immediate removal of the Director General (Prison) Kulbir Kishan.
However, reporters were barred from entering the jail premises and were not allowed to speak to any of the agitating staffs. Jail authority said it was an order issued by the Deputy Commissioner of East Khasi hills district who has directed outsider should not be allowed to enter the jail premises.
Reporters could only hear the agitating jail employees shouting slogans such as “We want justice” and “Remove the DG immediately”. Shouting one of the agitating staffs informed that they have decided to go for an indefinite strike till the DG is removed.
However in the evening reporters managed to meet agitating staff when they came out from the jail premises who said, “We are fighting for our rights. We do not want that there will be harassment against the staffs.”
Speaking about the inquiry instituted on the claims of the DG, the staff said, “We also want the government to ensure a ‘free and fair’ enquiry by temporarily removing the DG from office.”
For breaking the agitation deadlock the jail employee, however, said, “We are willing for talks if the government gives us the assurance that we will no longer be harassed by the top rank official of the department and comply with our demands..”
However on Tuesday, one of the jail employee Richard Synrem had submitted a written apology retracting from all the allegations he had made against the DG saying he did that under duress from the other jail employees.
But the employee spoken to Wednesday said that they had never pressurized Synrem to agitate or forced him to make allegations against the DG but as he was working in the bungalow of the DG came to them told about the harassment against him.
The agitating jail employees said, , “Threatening Synrem is out of the question. We are afraid of the law and why on earth should we do such a thing.” They, however, claimed that Synrem had sent a message stating that he had to withdraw from the strike as he had an offer to work in Tura jail as a warder. –By Our Reporter
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