U.P. team to inspect prisons after crimes found linked to jailed gangsters

The decision comes after the sensational murder of Umesh Pal, the key witness in the killing of former MLA Raju Pal on February 24

Crime can land a person in prison, but in Uttar Pradesh, crime is often committed from prison as well.

After it was found that high-profile crime in the State is often linked to accused persons lodged inside prisons, with some jail officials acting hand in glove with criminals, the prison department constituted a team of Indian Police Service (IPS) officers who will inspect prisons across the State and submit their report to the State government.

The Director General of Prisons, S.N. Sabat, constituted a team of IPS officers Shiv Hari Meena, Subhash Chandra Kashyap, Rajesh Kumar Srivastava, Hemant Kutiyal and Himanshu Kumar, who will inspect the prisons with the cooperation of the jail superintendent. They will probe irregularities, unwanted activities, and the possibility of action taken as per the law while checking the working system of the jails.

The jails in Prayagraj, Banda, Azamgarh, Varanasi, Sonbhadra, Ballia, Mau, Chitrakoot, Jaunpur and Fatehpur have been chosen for inspection, with Mr. Srivastava given responsibility to inspect Mau and Ballia district jails, while Mr. Meena will inspect Prayagraj and Chitrakoot jails.

The decision comes after the sensational murder of Umesh Pal, the key witness in the killing of former MLA Raju Pal on February 24. During investigation, the jailer of Bareilly prison was suspected of providing facilities to Ashraf, a key accused in the murder. It was found that Ashraf was allegedly in touch with the shooters who murdered Pal. The State government suspended six Bareilly jail officials including the jailer.

Likewise, the jail superintendent of Banda was suspended for providing facilities to Abbas Ansari, son of criminal-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, in Banda jail.