Jamshedpur: IG (Prison), Birendra Bhushan with other senior Jharkhand Police officers inspected Ghaghidih Central Jail following a major gangwar occurred last late night (Tuesday late night) in between two top most groups, in which one prisoner namely Manoj Singh, who died inside jail premises.
According to information, 20 persons, including four warders, have been made named accused in an FIR lodged by police over the incident of clash between two rival gangs of prisoners at Ghaghidih Central Jail.
Four warders of the jail namely Anil Kumar, Pankaj Kumar Mandal, Ram Pratap Yadav and Santosh Kumar were arrested this morning for allegedly raining lathis on prisoners which led to the death of convict Manoj Singh. The arresting was made on the basis of CCTV footage.
SSP Anoop Birtharay said the incident was result of clash between two separate gangs inside the jail premises.
According to Birtharay the matter took an ugly turn when Pankaj Dubey, a lifer, was assaulted inside the barrack by Manoj Singh (of Akhilesh Singh gang). Later, Pankaj came out of the barrack with his men and clashed with the rival gang.
�Seven persons were injured in the clash which resulted in the death of convict Manoj Singh. Others sustained injuries and were sent for treatment at the jail hospital. Manoj was sent to MGM Medical College and Hospital where he died. Another prisoner Sumit was also sent to the MGM Hospital,� the SSP said.
DC Amit Kumar visited the jail after the incident yesterday and took detailed account of the clash. The DC has formed high-level probe team to look into the matter.
Spread over 20 acres of land, the Ghaghidih Central Jail has a prisoners’ capacity of 1,447. Presently, the central jail has 16 CCTV cameras out of which only four are operational where as the rest 12 have gone out of order due to poor maintenance.
There have been frequent clashes between undertrial prisoners in the jail. Gangs owing allegiance to gangster Paramjeet Singh and Akhilesh Singh battled inside the jail on March 20, 2008. While Paramjeet was shot dead, another convict belonging to the rival group was lynched.