Salem: Popular social activist in western Tamil Nadu and coordinator of Salem Citizens Forum V. Piush Manush, arrested for staging a protest in a civic issue last week, has been brutally attacked in the jail, his wife Monika has alleged.
However, Salem Prisons Superintendent, M.Senthil Kumar denied that Piush Manush was being tortured in the jail.
Last week, work on constructing the railway overbridge at Mulluvadi railway gate was launched. However. Piush Manush launched a protest on July 8 urging the Railways to start the work after taking over the private land at the gate to prevent inconvenience to the public. He was arrested on charges of preventing government officials from performing their duty and threatening the police and was lodged in the Salem Central Prison.
When his wife Monika and advocate Mayan met Piush in the prison, he informed them that he was being subjected to mindless attack in the jail. He has been confined in a separate cell and subjected to mental torture, his wife said.
As Piush has been resorting to frequent protests over civic and social issues, he has been targeted by the police, advocate Mayan said. A case will be filed in the court soon seeking action against the jail officials including the superintendent of the prisons for the brutal attack on Piush, advocate Mayan said.
However, the jail superintendent Senthil Kumar claimed that Piush was making false allegations as the court had rejected his bail plea while two of his associates were granted bail. “ Piush has not been confined in a separate cell,” the SP said.
