SHRC summons prisons dept chief
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai: State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has di- rected the personal appear ance of ADGP (prisons) Ma- heshwar Dayal in connection with the reported harassment of a prisoner in Coimbatore and Cuddalore central prisons.
SHRC member V Kannada- san issued the summons, di- recting the ADGP to appear be fore the commission on June 18.
PRISONER ABUSE
The issue pertains to a com- plaint made by the mother of prisoner Dhanaseker in 2022, alleging that her son, lodged in Cuddalore prison, was being harassed and assaulted by pris on authorities. She said his son was denied A Class prison de- spite a court order.
Admitting the complaint, the commission directed pris- on authorities to respond to the plea. In its counter, the author ities claimed that Dhanasekar
was a history-sheeter and hence he was denied A Class in the prison.
It was further claimed that Dhanasekar’s involvement was suspected in an incident in which the house of Cuddalore prison assistant jailer was set on fire in 2022. During the course of hearing, the commis- sion suo motu added the ADGP prisons as party respondent to the complaint. Subsequently, the then Cuddalore jailer Sen- thil Kumar was transferred to Coimbatore prison in Jan 2024. A few months later, in April Dhanaseker was also trans- ferred to the Coimbatore pris- on for unknown reasons.
On Thursday, the complai- nant informed the commission that his son has been trans- ferred to Coimbatore prison where Senthil Kumar is the su- perintendent. Recording the submissions, the commission issued the summon directing the ADGP to appear in person and explain the reasons for the transfer.