Sriganganagar: Ever since the government railway police station in Sriganganagar district of Rajasthan was constructed thirty-three years ago, it does not have a lock up. The prisoners are tied to a wooden post with an iron chain.
As per a report by HT, “In absence of a lockup, we have to tie the arrested people in this wooden post. It is a violation of human rights but we are helpless as in spite of many efforts, a lockup couldn’t be built inside the police station,” said Dhanne Singh, station house officer of the GRP police station.
The prisoners are not able to use the toilet and they have to wait for a long time tied with a chain. They can’t turn or even do the basic movements. Police have to witness their snag as they can’t do much to make things easier for the prisoners.
“It’s a nightmare for us when there is more than one arrest as two people can’t be chained to the post because of inadequate space. That’s why we have to rush to Bikaner, which is a 12-hour-long journey from here to present them in the court so that they can be sent to the lockup there,” said Singh.
The jurisdiction of the GRP police station is one of the largest in the state within 200 Kilometres, police said.
Due to the inadequate lock-ups, the police have to arrest offenders under sections wherein bail is granted easily so that the accused doesn’t need to be chained to the post.
“We feel bad to chain the accused to the post but are helpless. Several letters have been written to the administration by subsequent SHOs in the last three decades but till now a lockup has eluded this police station,” said Singh.