10 inmates injured in Aurangabad jail clash

Aurangabad: Ten inmates were injured in a clash between two groups of inmates in Aurangabad jail on Tuesday morning.
According to sources, the clash took place between prisoners of ward number 8 and 9, in which Amit Sharma, Chhotu Sharma, Jitu Singh, Prince Sharma, Jalim Singh, Sanjeet, Rakesh Gupta and Anil Kumar were injured.
The trouble began when one of the inmates asked for money from another inmate to provide him space in the ward.
The inmates also said they clashed over the prevailing adverse condition (rangdari demand) in jail. One Anil Sharma, who have sustained injury in the clash alleged, "The ward in charge often demands money and when we cannot give it we are beaten up.
Police deployed on the jail campus are mute spectators (warden jabardasti paisa mangte hain or nahi dene par marte hai, police jaan bujh kar muk darshak bani rahti hai)."
Another inmate on the condition of anonymity said, "There are fixed rates for bringing in illegal items in jail right from cell phones to liquor."
However, jailer Pradeep Kumar denied all allegations levelled by the prisoners.
Sensing the gravity of the situation, DM Kawal Tanuj, SP Babu Ram and Sadar SDPO PN Sahu reached the jail premises with adequate policemen and pacified the inmates and assured to take strict action against the guilty. Talking to newsmen, the district magistrate (DM) said some inmates clashed over some petty issue.
"We are going through the CCTV footage. The situation is now under control. When asked about illegal items like cell phones and liquor being carried inside the jail, the DM said, "If such things are recovered strict action would be taken against the erring jail officials."
It may be mentioned here that Aurangabad jail has been the soft target of Maoists as many Reds including some member of the politburo are also lodged here.
Meanwhile, security in the jail has been beefed up after the incident.