Govt suspends three senior jail superintendents for ‘helping mafias’
The state government on Tuesday appointed two IPS officers as SP for prison administration and reform services.
LUCKNOW The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday suspended three senior jail superintendents for ‘dereliction of duty’ and ‘extending help to prominent mafias’ lodged in their respective prisons. The three suspended officials include -- Sashikant Singh of Naini Central Jail in Prayagraj, Rajeev Shukla of Bareilly jail, and Avinash Gautam of Banda Jail.
It is important to mention that gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed’s son Ali Ahmed is lodged in Nani jail, Atiq’s brother Khalid Azim (alias Ashraf) is in Bareilly jail, and Mukhtar Ansari is a Banda prison inmate. The suspensions come barely three days after SN Sabat took over charge as DGP (prisons).
Of late, the Yogi Adityanath government has taken several measures to check illegal activities in prison. Earlier, on March 14, the state government had suspended six Bareilly jail officials -- including the jailer -- for allegedly facilitating illegal meetings between prisoner Ashraf and his henchmen and brother-in-law.
Ashraf is jailed in connection with the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal in 2005 in Prayagraj. The six suspended officials were -- jailer Rajeev Kumar Mishra, deputy jailer Durgesh Pratap Singh, head warden Brijveer Singh, and wardens Manoj Gaur, Danish Mehndi, and Dalpat Singh.
Previously in February, seven officials of the Chitrakoot jail, including the superintendent and two jailers, were suspended for facilitating meetings between Abbas Ansari, son of Mukhtar Ansari, and his wife Nikhat. During investigation, it was discovered that Nikhat entered the Chitrakoot jail 46 times between December 18, 2022, and February 10, 2023. None of her entries were logged into the jail register.
Back in June last year, five staffers of the Banda prison, including deputy jailer Vireshwar Pratap Singh, were suspended for providing special facilities to gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari.
Separately, the state government on Tuesday appointed two IPS officers — including Shivhari Meena and Subhash Chandra Shakya — as SP for prison administration and reform services to check illegal activities in prisons.
In addition to this, the government also handed over the additional charge of the prison administration and reform services to three IPS officers, including Hemant Kutiyal, Himanshu Kumar, and Rakesh Kumar Srivastava. Kutiyal is the commandant of the Special Security Force, Kumar is the commandant of the 23rd PAC in Moradabad, and Srivastav is SP Security.
