UP gangster shot dead in jail by inmate

A dreaded gangster Prem Prakash Singh, alias Munna Bajrangi, was shot dead allegedly by another inmate on the Baghpat district jail premises on Monday.

Bajrangi was allegedly involved in the killing of former BJP legislator Krishnanad Rai, who was shot more than 100 times with bursts of AK 47 in November 2005.

Incidentally, Bajrangi was brought here from Jhansi Jail on Sunday and lodged in a barrack with notorious criminal Sunil Rathi. According to jail officials, there was an altercation between both, after which Rathi shot Bajrangi ten times in the head. The police are interrogating Rathi. It is suspected that the latter may be part of a larger conspiracy to avenge

the killing of the BJP leader Krishnanad Rai, said sources.

The shocking part is that the administration was well aware of the threats to Bajrangi’s life. Just a week ago, his wife addressed a press conference highlighting threats to his life. According to media reports, she had charged that Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Task Force was hatching a conspiracy to eliminate her husband. Bajrangi was originally a core member of a criminal-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s gang. Gangsters were flourishing in Mulayam Singh’s dispensation those days. Following the killing on the prison premises, the State government has suspended the jail staff and ordered a judicial inquiry.