Uttar Pradesh: 3 prisoners killed in jail shooting in Chitrakoot; Jailer & SP suspended

In a shocking incident of jail violence, three inmates in a Chitrakoot jail in Uttar Pradesh were killed in gun firing amid a fight. The superintendent revealed that the slain prisoners were Anshu Dixit, Merazuddin alias Meraj Ali and Mukeem Kala. One of the slain prisoner - Mukeemm Kala was a gangster from Western UP who had killed an NIA officer. The Chitrakoot jailer and superintendent have now been suspended.

3 prisoners killed in UP

 "Dixit shot dead Ali and Kala, and held some of the other prisoners at gunpoint and threatened to kill them. He was later killed in the exchange of fire with police," the Superintendent of Police said.

After the incident, an inquiry committee consisting of Commissioner Chitrakoot, IG Chitrakoot and DIG Jail Headquarters was been formed by UP govt.  Following a departmental inquiry, Jailor Mahendra Pal and Jail Superintendent SP Tripathi of Chitrakoot Jail were suspended. As per the inquiry, the two officers were found guilty and necessary action should be taken against them, recommended UP Under-Secretary Ajay Kumar Tiwari.

According to sources, Kala, a resident of Shamli, was involved in a number of cases of murder, dacoity and extortion cases, whereas Ali was an active member of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s gang. Dixit, a resident of Sitapur, was a contract killer who had worked for gangster Munna Bajrangi in the past, they said. Ali was shifted to Chitrakoot on March 20 from Varanasi jail, while Kala came to the jail on May 7 from Saharanpur.

SC tells govt to decongest jails

Last week, the Supreme Court passed a slew of directions to decongest prisons as India is battling the second wave of COVID-19.  Most importantly, all prisoners who were released pursuant to the apex court's order dated March 23, 2020, by imposing appropriate conditions shall be immediately released again. This assumes significance as 90% of the prisoners who were released last year either on interim bail or parole on the recommendations of the High-Powered Committees constituted by the states returned back to jails in February and March 2021.

Observing that India has more than 4 lakh prison inmates, the SC bench asserted that some of the prisons are housing inmates beyond the optimal capacity. It maintained that decongestion is a matter of right to life of both the jail inmates and the police personnel working there. The apex court stressed the need to effectively calibrate concerns of the criminal justice system, health   hazards and rights of the accused amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

(With PTI Inputs)