As the Akhilesh Yadav-led government in Uttar Pradesh comes under attack from different quarters over alleged deteriorating of law and order in the state, senior police officials say that jails have turned into safe havens for criminals, and their running mafia gangs from inside prisons are posing a serious challenge to the police.
The officials said the recent killing of former BSP legislator Sarvesh Singh in Azamgarh district was the result of a fight for dominance in the world of crime in eastern UP. Incidentally, the prime suspect in Singh's killing was someone who had
been lodged in the Varanasi jail.
The police suspect that former block president Dhruv Singh alias Kuntu Singh had got the former MLA killed by his henchmen.
They said some people had met Kuntu Singh while he had gone to Azamgarh to appear in court in connection with a case.
Additional director general (law and order) of state police Arun Kumar also admitted that criminals had been “running gangs” from inside prisons. The police officials said it was not easy to prove allegations of crime against criminals who were in the jails. “They have perfect alibi,” the officials pointed out.
In the past too, the jailed criminals were said to have been responsible for several killings in the state.
Jailed mafia don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari was suspected to have plotted the murder of his rival Brijesh Singh's relative in Varanasi barely a few days ago.
A few years ago, jailed criminal Abhai Singh allegedly got the jailer of Lucknow prison R K Tewari killed by his henchmen in broad daylight.
There is an urgent need to monitor the activities of jailed criminals, said the officials.
According to official records, as many as 12 mafia dons are currently lodged in different jails in the state.
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