Several persons including policemen and jail officials were injured when inmates of Deoria district jail went berserk while protesting official handedness inside the campus on Tuesday morning.
A large number of undertrials came out of their barracks and some even climbed the trees inside the jail premises. After chanting anti-administration slogans, as the jail guards tried to shoo them away they resorted to stone pelting and violence.
To quell the rampaging inmates, Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and police personnel from neighbouring stations had to be summoned. The cops had to fire in the air and lob tear gas shells to chase away the marauders who engaged in heavy brick batting.
later, District Magistrate and SP of Deoria too rushed inside the jail premises to control the situation. After a four-hour-long struggle, the police managed to defuse the situation and send back the inmates to their respective barracks.
After the violenct sequence of events, the authorities went for a search operation inside the barracks and recovered several objectionable items. In the recent past, violence by prisoners have been reported across UP jails over official highhandedness, corrupt practices and lack of basic facilities. Similar violence were reported from Varanasi, Azamgarh, Faizabad and Meerut.
later speaking to media persons, DM Anita Srivastava said that efforts are being made to talk to the protesting prisoners so that peace and order could be ensured.
Meanwhile in Badaun, hundreds of jail inmates went on a hunger strike to protest the death of a fellow inmate Tunkesh Yadav (24) under mysterious circumstances since Tuesday morning. They also protested the poor quality of food, corrupt practices etc. The officials are pursuading the protesters to call of their stir.
Tunkesh of Nadrauli village in Sambhal was arrested in March, 2014 for a murder. Since there is no jail in Sambhal, he was lodged in Badaun district jail. On Sunday, Yadav complained of uneasiness and pain in the stomach to the jail staff after which he was rushed to the district hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.
As his fanmily was informed, they staged a protest outside the mortuary against Jail officials charging them of murdering Tunkesh. On April 7, Tunkesh had written to his family complaining of harassment by three jail officials.
later, an FIR was registered at Civil lines police station against six persons, including Jail Superintendent Nl Dohre and two Deputy Jailors Sunil Gautam and Deepak Chauhan on charges of murder.