Inmates brandish pistol inside Unnao jail, 4 officials face action

Lucknow: Action has been initiated against four officials of Unnao district jail, after a video of two inmates flashing a countrymade pistol inside the prison premises went viral on social media, officials said on Wednesday.

The Uttar Pradesh home department, however, came up with a bizarre clarification saying that the pistol was made of "clay" and looked real as one of the two inmates is a "good painter".

The department said that the video of the inmates-- Amrish and Gaurav Pratap Singh alias Ankur was circulated on the social media on June 23.

Terming the entire sequence of events as serious, Additional Director General (Prisons) Anand Kumar said, "In the probe, it was found that the incident was done in collusion with some jail officials to put pressure on the jail administration."

"In this context, head jail warder Mata Prasad, Hemraj, jail warder Awadhesh Sahu and Saleem Khan have been found to be colluding with the inmates, and action is being initiated against them," he said.

Kumar also said the video dates back to February.

"Inmate Amrish was brought to Unnao jail from Meerut, while Gaurav was transferred from Lucknow," he said.

In a statement, the state home department said, "During the probe, it was found that Gaurav is a very good painter, and the countrymade pistol shown in the video is of clay (mitti)."

"Apart from this, all the food items, which are seen in the video, are regular items which are given to the inmates. None of the items were brought from outside or are objectionable," it added.

The statement also said that Amrish, a resident of Meerut is serving a life-term for committing murder and loot, while Gaurav, who hails from Rae Bareli is named in cases of loot and murder.