Gorakhpur prison clash: Trigger was bad food or police torture?

GORAKHPUR/LUCKNOW: Anarchy prevailed at Gorakhpur district jail after inmates clashed with the jailor, his deputy and prison wardens and smashed CCTV cameras and chairs following a dispute on Friday morning. The situation was brought under control after senior district officials reached the site with heavy reinforcement of police and provincial armed constabulary.While the state prison department claimed the incident was a fallout of an assault on two inmates by a circle officer, who visited the jail on Thursday evening, district officials claimed the trigger was bad quality of food served in jail.
When sparks flew in prison premises around 10 am, jail officials swiftly send an SOS to the district administration seeking reinforcements to douse the unrest.Soon, ADM (City) Rakesh Kumar Srivastava along with Circle Officer (City), with police and PAC back-up rushed to Gorakhpur district jail. By then, inmates had roughed up the jailor, his deputy and other guards. Later speaking to reporters, ADM City said an inmate complained about bad food while another group junked the claim, triggering clashes.
District Magistrate, Gorakhpur, Vijyendra Pandiyan, said prisoners want better food, including milk and eggs. They also complained of police excesses during interrogation before being transported to jail.
‘Inmates sought regular hearings in court’
“Inmates also sought regular hearings in court. A magistrate will visit the jail every day to look into their demands,” said senior superintendent of police, Gorakhpur, Sunil Kumar Gupta.
However, Director-General (prisons and administrative reforms) Anand Kumar told TOI the roughing up of two inmates by CO (city) following a brawl in court on Thursday triggered the clash. He also said, DIG (jail headquarters) has been asked to conduct a thorough probe. To a TOI query whether clashes followed poor food quality served to inmates, the officer said, barracks were simmering after the court brawl in which the circle officer was nasty during interrogation. “Inmates have written about the mistreatment meted out to them by the CO,” said the DG.
A press release by the jail administration stated two rival prison gangs led by Koel Yadav and Govind Yadav instigated two groups which sparked off clashes. Jailer Prem Sagar Shukla and deputy jailer Prabhakant were roughed up. Jail inmates have written to the district administration seeking action against circle officer (city) Praveen Singh for thrashing them on Thursday evening.