Death of inmate fuels jail clash in UP, 6 hurt

The death of a jail inmate in Gorakhpur district jail led to widespread violence on Thursday that left six jail guards and one constable seriously injured.

All of them have been admitted to the BRD medical college. Trouble began on Thursday morning wh-en one of the jail inmates died allegedly after being beaten by jail officials.

Angry jail inmates set a portion of the barracks on fire and attacked the jail staff to protest against the death of a prisoner.

To control the inmates, the police lobbed tear gas shells and fired rubber bullets but the inmates did not back off.

District magistrate San-dhya Tiwari and SSP Ram Lal Varma rushed to the spot but were not allowed to go inside the jail since the inmates have taken over the control of the jail premises and locked all the gates form inside.

Additional police forces were called in to handle the situation which was getting increasingly out of hand since the jail inmates were holding some jail guards hostage.

Officials disconnected the power and water supply in the jail and a drone camera is being used to keep a watch on the situation inside the jail.

Sources said that senior officials had conducted a raid in the district jail on Wednesday night and had found several objectionable items in the barracks.

This reportedly irked the prisoners and their anger was fuelled by the death of an inmate who had been brutally thrashed by the jail guards.

Jailor R.K. Singh claimed that the inmate had died due to heart attack, but the inmates blamed the officials for the death.

A probe has been ordered by the district authorities on the violence even as the situation remains tense.

Reports also said during the raid by the officials, around 130 mobile phones were recovered from the possession of the prisoners which led to Thursday’s violence.