Disciplinary action initiated against 4 officials after video shows Unnao jail inmates brandishing pistol

PTI, Jun 28, 2019, 9:43 AM IST

Lucknow: After a video of two inmates flaunting a pistol at the Unnao district jail went viral on social media, disciplinary action was initiated against jail officials on Thursday. A proposal has also been sent to the Home Department for the transfer of the inmates to some other jail.

Meanwhile, UP Cabinet Minister Siddhartha Nath Singh said no one would be allowed to take the law into his hands. Jai Kumar Singh Jaiki, Minister of State for Jails, said the government had taken the incident seriouslyand strict action would be initiated against those found guilty.

Elaborating on the action taken, Additional Inspector General (Headquarters) Dr Sharad said, “Departmental proceedings have been initiated against four jail officials on grounds of laxity and dereliction of duty. A show-cause notice has been issued to the jail superintendent and the jailor. As far as the two inmates seen in the video are concerned, they will be transferred to some other jail. A proposal in this regard has been sent to the UP Home department,” he said. Earlier on Thursday, the Samajwadi Party had termed the incident an “open challenge” to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The SP claimed the jails in the state were in the “pocket” of criminals.

“Uttar Pradesh ki jail me kuch bhi ho sakta hai. Unnao jail se mukhyamatri ko khula challenge. Raebareli jail me lag rahi kaidi ki adalat. Apradhiyon ki jeb me mukhyamantri ki jail! (Anything can happen in UP jails. It’s an open challenge to the CM from the Unnao jail. In the Rae Bareli jail, criminals are holding a court. The CM’s jail is in the pocket of criminals), the party said in a tweet. Commenting on the issue, party spokesperson Sharvendra Bikram Singh said criminal ruled the roost in the jail.

In the video that went viral on social media, two inmates were seen flaunting a country-made pistol, prompting the state government to initiate action against four officials of the Unnao district jail. The video of the inmates — Amrish and Gaurav Pratap Singh, alias Ankur — was circulated on social media on June 23 and the state government had termed the entire sequence of events serious. The UP Home Department, however, on Wednesday came up with a bizarre clarification, saying the pistol was made of “clay” and looked real as one of the two inmates was a “good painter”.

Additional Director General (Prisons) Anand Kumar had said, “In the probe, it was found that the incident took place in collusion with some jail officials to put pressure on the jail administration. Head Jail Warders Mata Prasad and Hemraj and Jail Warders Awadhesh Sahu and Saleem Khan have been found colluding with the inmates. Action is being initiated against them as per rules.”

“Inmate Amrish was brought to the Unnao jail from Meerut, while Gaurav was transferred from Lucknow,” he said, adding that the video dated back to February. In a statement, the Home Department said, “During the probe, it was found that Gaurav is a very good painter and the pistol shown in the video is made of clay. Apart from this, all the food items, which are seen in the video, are regular items, which are given to the inmates. None of the items were brought from outside or are objectionable.”

The statement added that Amrish, a resident of Meerut, was serving life term in a case of loot and murder while Gaurav, who hails from Rae Bareli, was named in similar cases.

Several such incidents have taken place in the recent past. A video of four inmates partying and consuming liquor inside the Sultanpur district jail had gone viral on social media on June 19. Similarly, on June 18, a video of a criminal harassing inmates in the Rae Bareli jail had gone viral.

On June 6, two undertrials were seen talking over cell phones and partying inside the Ghazipur district jail in a video on social media. On June 5, Naini Central Jail inmates were seen partying and consuming liquor in a video.