Notorious criminals to be shifted to Bhagalpur prison

PATNA: A day after an FIR was lodged against independent MLC Ritlal Yadav with Khagaul police station for allegedly threatening the managing director (MD) of a construction firm from Beur central jail for extortion, DIG (central range) Rajesh Kumar on Tuesday said notorious criminals lodged in Patna and Nalanda jails would be shifted to special central jail and Shaheed Jubba Sahni central jail at Bhagalpur.
Addressing a presser, he said the decision was taken on reports that some notorious criminals were running rackets from inside the jails in Patna and Nalanda. “We will try to keep such criminals in isolated cells so that they don’t get access to other jail inmates to hatch a conspiracy,” he said.
The DIG said a list would be prepared of criminals accused in case of murder, extortion, kidnapping for ransom, loot and dacoity for shifting them with the help of prison authorities. “Criminals booked in criminal cases despite being in jail for various reasons would be shifted first,” he said.
Kumar said at least 100 criminals from Patna and Nalanda each would be shifted within a week. “We will ensure that their trials are conducted through videoconferencing so that they are not required transport for production in courts,” he said.
When asked if Ritlal would be shifted immediately from Beur jail, the DIG said he would also be shifted with other notorious criminals.
Khagaul police station SHO Sanjay Kumar said Ritlal’s associate Sunny Kumar was arrested from Kothwa on Monday night.
Refusing to disclose the MD’s identity for security reasons, the SHO said Ritlal called on the MD’s cellphone on June 30 and threatened him to pay 8% of the railway tender allotted to his firm. “On Ritlal’s directive, Sunny called the MD to pay the extortion money. Technical surveillance revealed the call to MD was made from Beur jail,” he said, adding Sunny also admitted his association with Ritlal.