Death of an under trial inside the Gorakhpur district jail triggered a slew of violent clahes between the inmates and staff that left a dozen prison staff with serious injuries in the wee hours of Thursday. The authorities later took the help of Drone cameras for keeping a tab on the activities of the angry inmates.
District Magistrate and Senior Superintendent of Police of Gorakhpur rushed to the prison campus with heavy police force and fired tear gas shells which forced the inmates to return to their barracks. The power supply to the jail campus was also snapped to avert any exigency.
Jail officials later claimed that four security personnel and two inmates were injured in the fracas and they were admitted to the district hospital.
On Wednesday night, a search by district and prison officials yielded 130 mobile phones were recovered. This did notgo down well with the inmates and they created a ruckus inside the campus. They vandalised government property, ransacked several offices and indulged in brickbatting. later, when prison staff went to soberthem down, the inmates clashed with them, beat them up and held them hostage. The fracas resulted in six guards being injured.
Jailor R K Singh said that an inmate died due to cardiac arrest which was voceifrously dismissed by the prisoners, who claimed that the inmate was severely beaten up on the Jailor's directions after which he died.
"The fracas continued into the early hours of Thursday after which senior officials backed up heavy police force along with PAC jawans rushed in. The officials ordered firin of tear gas to force the inmates to return to their barracks and control the situation," Singh said.
A probe has been ordered by the district administration in this connection.