Plea in SC seeks CBI probe into Chitrakoot jail incident where 3 under-trials were killed

In the latest development to the Chitrakoot jail incident, a petition has been moved in the Supreme Court seeking an independent inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the alleged killings of three prisoners in Uttar Pradesh. The plea filed by Advocate Anoop Prakash Awasthi has sought the appointment of a Central Agency under supervision of the apex court, to investigate the alleged killings of three under trial inmates at the Chitrakoot jail.

The petition further sought direction for a probe into all the alleged extra-judicial killings that occurred in Uttar Pradesh since March 18, 2017. The petition alleged that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has openly promoted the culture of encounters and extra-judicial killings and went on to say that "Police in UP will now respond to a bullet with a bullet."

The plea cited the killing of gangster Munna Bajrangi who was shot dead in Bagpat Jail of Uttar Pradesh, and the encounter of history-sheeter Vikas Dubey, adding there have been several hundred encounters in the state since 2017, which is “both alarming and disturbing".

"Chief Minister, who is the provincial head of an elected government encroached upon the domain of punishment in sanctioning the taking of life in encounters without following the due process of law", the petitioner alleged.

Three inmates shot dead in Chitrakoot jail

On May 14, three under trial prisoners, including a member of BSP MLA Mukhtar Ansari's group, were shot dead inside the Chitrakoot district jail after which the Uttar Pradesh government suspended two jail officials, police had said.

The three inmates gunned down in the district jail at Ragauli were identified by police as Anshu Dixit, Merazuddin alias Meraj Ali and Mukeem Kala, belonging to Sitapur, Ghazipur and Shamli districts, respectively, in Uttar Pradesh. One of the slain prisoner - Mukeemm Kala was a gangster from Western UP who had killed an NIA officer. 

Taking note of the incident, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered a probe into the incident by a joint team of Divisional Commissioner D K Singh, Chitrakoot IG Satyanarain and DIG (Prison) Sanjeev Tripathi. The CM also demanded the probe report at the earliest.

(With inputs from agency)