Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Simarjit Singh Bains's elder brother Balwinder Singh Bains, who is also a senior Akali leader and a member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), has alleged that jail authorities were meting out a raw deal to the junior Bains at the Ludhiana Central Jail at the behest of Jail Minister Hira Singh Gabria.

However, denying the allegations, Central Jail Superintendent Roop Kumar Arora said junior Bains was being treated like any other ordinary prisoner in the jail.

Talking to Newsline, senior Bains said despite being a senior political leader and an elected councillor, his brother had been kept in the barrack meant for hardcore criminals. "Being a political leader and educated person, he should have been lodged in the barracks meant for educated and refined prisoners and not in the cells meant for hardcore criminals," said Bains senior.

He further said authorities did not let his brother's supporters meet him in the jail on Saturday. "However, when later I went to meet Simarjit, I was allowed by the jail authorities. Probably, the authorities might have thought that if they do not allow me to meet him, I would have created embarrassing situation for them," he added.

Meanwhile, Central Jail superintendent Roop Kumar Arora denied the allegations and said, "Neither are we giving a shabby treatment to Simarjit Bains nor is he being treated like a special case. He is an ordinary prisoner." When asked about the allegations of Bains's supporters not been allowed to meet him, Arora said, "We had allowed his supporters to meet him but Bains demanded to meet them at the main gate which we do not allow except in rare cases."

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