Chandigarh, Mar 14 (PTI) Upset over the prison staff's conduct, inmates of the central jail in Punjab's Gurdaspur district on Thursday pelted stones at them and indulged in vandalism, prompting police to fire tear gas shells to control the situation, officials said.

Five policemen including station house officer of Dhariwal police station Mandeep Singh Salgotra, and some inmates were injured, said officials.

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Earlier, it was said that a clash broke out between the two groups of inmates in the prison.

Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal has asked the sub-divisional magistrate to probe the incident.

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The prisoners were reportedly upset over the conduct of the lower staff of the jail, not getting proper medical treatment due to overcrowding of some barracks, and stringent restrictions by the jail staff.

After the inmates indulged in vandalism, the Gurdaspur police requisitioned the services of police personnel from neighbouring areas like Pathankot and Batala to bring the situation under control, said officials.

The prisoners also pelted stones at the police personnel, they said.

Police lobbed tear gas shells in the prison to control the situation, said the officials.

Senior officials, including Additional Director General of Police GS Dhillon, ADGP (Jails) Arunpal Singh and the senior superintendents of Pathankot, Gurdaspur and Batala, also reached the prison.

The Gurdaspur DC said earlier it was reported that two groups of inmates had clashed in the jail. However, it turned out that the inmates were irked by the arrangements in the prison which led to a protest, said Aggarwal.

ADGP Dhillon and the Gurdaspur DC later spoke to the protesting inmates to know their issues.

Dhillon also said that the Gurdaspur DC will depute a team of three doctors who will ensure the treatment of the injured inmates in the next three days.

The Gurdaspur DC said the situation was under control.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)