Pak prisoner in serious condition after Jammu jail attack

JAMMU: A Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah serving life term was attacked inside the Kot Balwal jail in Jammu by a fellow inmate on Friday morning and his condition is stated to be serious, official sources said.

It was not immediately known whether the attack on the 52-year-old convict with a sharp weapon was a backlash against the death of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh in a hospital in Pakistan on Thursday after being comatose for nearly a week following a brutal assault by fellow inmates in a Lahore jail, officials said.

Official sources said the Kot Balwal jail superintendent Rajni Sehgal has been suspended by the Jammu and Kashmir government, which also ordered a probe.

The sources said Sanaullah was admitted in Government Medical College Hospital in an unconscious condition with serious injuries on his head.

A case of assault was registered against Vinod Kumar, an ex-serviceman, who is also serving life term in the jail. Kumar hails from Uttrakhand.

The sources said the health condition of Sanaullah was stated to be very critical as he was hit with a sharp weapon. He may be shifted to Chandigarh’s PGI for treatment as his Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) was pretty low.

GCS is a scale for measuring level of consciousness, especially after a head injury, in which scoring is determined by three factors: amount of eye opening, verbal responsiveness, and motor responsiveness.

Sanaullah was arrested on April 1999 in connection with five cases related to terror activities.