CHANDIGARH, July 26: Congress leader Maninderjit Singh Bitta today demanded immediate suspension of R.D. Sharma, superintendent of Burail Jail.Talking to Newsline, Bitta alleged that the complicity of the jail superintendent in money transactions and other illegal activities of terrorists lodged in Burail Jail could not be ruled out. One of the jail officials was already in police custody for acting as a conduit to pass money to terrorists, he said.Bitta demanded that the investigation into the jailbreak attempt by Jagtar Singh Hawara, kingpin in the Beant Singh assassination case, be handed over to the CBI.He demanded a similar probe into the affairs of the Tihar Jail, which "was being used by terrorists for recruiting criminals in their net". The recent letter of Punjab DGP P.C. Dogra to the Tihar IG, giving details of the nefarious activities and use of cellular phones from within the precincts of the jail, was indicative of complicity of the jail staff with terrorists, Bitta said.The Intelligence Wing of Punjab Police had recently circulated a letter stating that terrorists lodged in Burail and Tihar jails were planning to eliminate Bitta with the help of associates outside jails. Police sources said that terrorist outfits viewed Bitta, who is placed in the Z Plus security, as a symbol of anti-terrorism. It was their priority to eliminate him so as to cow down politicians from vociferously speaking against terrorists, they added.
