West Bengal: LeT militant on death row goes on fast demanding TV, 'good food'

Kolkata: A Lashkar-e-Toiba militant Muzaffar Ahmed Rather, who is on death row, has been on a hunger strike for the last two days demanding a TV set and 'good food' in his solitary cell.

The authorities of the Dumdum Central Jail, where the 30-year-old Rather is lodged in solitary confinement, however, shifted him to the Presidency jail.

The jail authorities also claimed that the LeT militant withdrew his fast following his shifting to the Presidency Jail.

"For the last few days he has been demanding a television set and good food. Under the rules, a prisoner, who is on a death row, cannot be provided with a TV set. With regard to food, we provide quality food to all prisoners. We tried to convince him, but he was adamant," State Correctional Department Minister Abani Mohan Joardar told PTI.

So, he went on a hunger strike, the minister said adding, he had been since shifted to the Presidency Jail.

A jail official claimed that these were standard tricks adopted by Maoists and other dreaded criminals in a bid to pressure jail authorities to give into their demands.

Muzaffar Ahmed Rather, a resident of Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir, and two other militants, both Pakistani citizens, were arrested by the BSF in 2007 from the India-Bangladesh border at Petrapole.

All three were sentenced to death this January by a court in Bongaon in West Bengal's North 24-Parganas district for waging war against the country.

According to police sources, the trio had plans to launch terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, but before they could carry it out they were caught and handed over to the police.