Three jailed Chhota Rajan men booked for planning to kill Naini prison officials

The three accused have been identified as Shakib of Sarai Mir (Azamgarh), Khan Mubarak of Tanda (Ambedkar Nagar) and Pappu Agrahari of Beniganj (Allahabad).

A recent surprise inspection drive by Senior SSP (Allahabad) Deepak Kumar and the District Magistrate (Allahabad) P Guruprasad is believed to be the reason behind the accused planning to kill the officials.

“The planning came to light through surveillance of mobile phones. The three were miffed with the inspection and were therefore making plans to kill deputy jail superintendent Bal Krishna Mishra and assistant jail superintendent Vijay Vikram,” said Inspector (In-charge), Naini, Indrajeet Chaturvedi.

During the inspection, while the officials recovered several incriminating articles (knives, one pen drive, and some cash from other inmates), no mobile phones were found in their possession.

The last case registered against the three was for the murder of Dhoomanganj history-sheeter Suresh Pasi almost a year ago.

Chaturvedi informed that the three had been associated with the Chhota Rajan group and had run operations from inside the jail. However, nothing incriminating was recovered from their possession during the inspection, he added.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the jail administration has been trying to tighten their control over the accused and other inmates, as there were reports of the criminals using the prison complex to run illegal operations. A few raids were conducted earlier, too.

Naini Jail Superintendent Ambarish Gaur said: “We have taken adequate steps to ensure that the jail officials are not harmed and the accused are not able to carry out any such activities.”

He, however, refused to share details on whether the accused have been shifted from their current barrack (No. 4 of one of the jails within the prison complex).