Video of birthday party in Ludhiana jail goes viral, probe ordered

Ludhiana: Police have launched an investigation after a video surfaced online showing inmates celebrating a birthday party inside the Ludhiana Central Jail, officials said on Friday.

The clip surfaced on social media on Thursday and showed a group of inmates raising glasses and eating 'pakodas', while singing "Mani Veere Da Aj Budday Hain (Today is Mani brother's birthday)", they said.

The men were celebrating the birthday of inmate Arun Kumar alias Mani Rana, an undertrial in a 2019 robbery case from Himachal Pradesh.

Prison authorities said they have confiscated from Rana's possession the mobile phone used to record and upload the video. The phone was, however, found in a broken condition and its data could not be accessed, they added.

An FIR has been registered against Rana, the officials said, adding that 10 more inmates have also been identified and a complaint has been sent to the local police station.

Assistant Commissioner Police (Ludhiana East) Gurdev Singh said the case was registered under the Prisons Act section 52A (violation of jail norms) against all 11 inmates who were identified in the viral clip.

Taking serious note of the incident, Inspector General, Prisons, R K Arora told PTI that DIG, Patiala Range, Surinder Singh Saini will conduct a full-fledged investigation into the incident.

This is not the first time that Punjab prisons are in the news for wrongful reasons. Last year, Governor Banwarilal Purohit said there was a need to improve prison security as criminals were running rackets sitting inside jails.

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu wrote on X, “Where are the five G jammers to sanitise jails hon jail minister @BhagwantMann that you use for your personal security. One man should be responsible for 6 prisoners according to the jail manual.. one is controlling 26 in Punjab jails.. that is how understaffed your prisons are failed jail minister and you talk of employment? Wake up janaab..”