Ludhiana prison riot: Inmates' rampage leaves jail superintendent hospitalised in religious bias uproar

A routine evening at Ludhiana Central Jail erupted into chaos on Tuesday as inmates ran amok, leaving several officials injured, including the jail superintendent who was knocked unconscious by a brick and rushed to hospital.

The disturbance, which prompted a major police mobilisation to the Tajpur Road facility, began as an altercation between inmates but rapidly spiralled into a large-scale confrontation.

According to a TOI report, the incident originated as a fistfight between two groups of inmates — two on one side and three on the other. When jail staff intervened to separate the five individuals and pacify the situation, tensions escalated instead of subsiding.

"The five started creating a ruckus," an officer was cited as saying by TOI. "One of them alleged he was being targeted because of his religion. He gathered some supporters, so did the other side. Jail staff tried to stop the faceoff."

The situation turned critically violent when Jail Superintendent Kulwant Singh Sidhu arrived on the scene in an attempt to regain control. Inmates began pelting bricks, one of which struck Sidhu on the head, causing him to collapse. He was rendered unconscious and required urgent hospitalisation.

Other personnel, including Jail DSP Jagjeet Singh and some Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, were also wounded in the brick-batting. When questioned about the source of the bricks, the officer reportedly said that inmates had retrieved them from garden beds within the jail's open area.

With order breaking down, jail authorities activated the emergency siren and called for immediate police reinforcements. The urgent response was visible across Ludhiana, as residents reported a convoy of police vehicles with blaring sirens speeding towards the prison.

A substantial force, led by Ludhiana Police Commissioner Swapan Sharma and other senior officers, swiftly arrived at the jail. Police assisted jail staff in pushing the rioting inmates back into their barracks and securing the facility.

This incident revives grim memories of severe unrest at the same prison in June 2019, when police were forced to fire over 150 rounds to quell a violent uprising within the barracks.