Dy jailor hurt in jail inmates’ attack
GORAKHPUR : Deputy jailor Prabhakant Pandey and four security personnel sustained grave injuries in a deadly attack by a group of angry prisoners, who turned violent on Friday morning. The immediate cause for the retaliation was the alleged beating up of a prisoner by a senior policeman on Thursday night.
The details of the incident are that prisoners were presented in court for a hearing on Thursday. Returning from court, the prisoner in question got into a tiff with others inside the prisoner van, sources in the jail said.
According to these sources, the senior policeman visited the jail at night and assaulted the prisoner for creating a ruckus.
On Friday morning and in retaliation to the previous night’s incident, prisoners of barrack number one attacked the deputy jailor when it was opened for attendance. He was rescued by security personnel and was later admitted to hospital for treatment. Soon, all inmates joined the protest and indulged in stonepelting and sloganeering, accusing the policeman of harassing them.
On getting information, DM Vijyendra Pandian, SSP Sunil Gupta, rushed to the spot with force of 12 police stations and a PAC battalion. Police had to use force inside the jail premises. Drone cameras have been put into service to monitor the situation. Refuting the information from jail sources, the administration and police, however, claimed that the problem arose when two groups of inmates clashed for supremacy.
“The incident took place in the morning during daily attendance. Two groups of inmates clashed with each other over food and other issues. They were controlled by jail and police administration. The prisoners had different problems such as inadequate facilities. Some of them wanted extra services, while some others asked for milk and eggs in diet. Some even complained of thirddegree interrogation methods employed by the police. Some of them even complained that they are not produced in court timely. All their issues are being addressed. No harm has been caused to them. A magisterial enquiry led by ADM city has been set up to look into interrogation allegations,” said DM Vijyendra Pandian.
SP City Dr Kaustubham said, “We received information about the scuffle between two groups of prisoners. The ADM and I met the prisoners and asked them about their problems, which will be resolved. No prisoner has been injured and all are fine.”