india

Updated: Feb 20, 2019 20:32 IST

A Pakistani prisoner serving a life term in the Jaipur Central Jail was allegedly killed by four other inmates on Wednesday afternoon after a brawl over watching television, said a jail official.

“A Pakistani prisoner, who has been in Jaipur jail since March 2011, was killed by four men in a barrack after they had arguments over television channel and volume,” said director general (prisons) NRK Reddy.

“Seven prisoners were watching television at about 1.45 p.m. when the argument broke out. Shakir Ullah was the only Pakistani among them,” said another prison official who didn’t want to be named.

Jaipur police commissioner Anand Srivastava said Ullah, 44, asked the inmates to lower the volume when four prisoners – Ajeet Jaat, Manoj Pratap Singh, Kulwinder Gurjar and Bhajan Meena – hit him with a marble slab on which the TV was kept. He died on the spot, he said.

After initial questioning, the police booked the four, of which two are murder convicts. All four have been booked for killing Ullah and a magisterial inquiry has been ordered.

Ullah, also known as Mohammad Hanif, was native of Sialkot in Pakistan, and was arrested in 2010 in Ferozepur, Punjab, for his allegedly recruiting locals for Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and sending them to Pakistan for training.

Ahead of his arrest, the Rajasthan anti-terror squad (ATS) had intercepted his phone calls to some locals in Jhalwar in south-east Rajasthan while coordinating for LeT terror activities in the region, an officer of the ATS said requesting anonymity. In 2011, he was brought to Jaipur.

“He was found guilty of recruiting for LeT, sending the recruits for training to Pakistan and arranging funds for terror activities on December 6, 2017,” the officer said. Seven other persons were also convicted with him, said the ATS officer said.

Two of the convicted, Asgar Ali and Mohammad Iqbal, also lodged in Jaipur Central Jail, are Pakistanis. The other convicted Hafiz Abdul Ali, Qabil Khan, Arun Jain, Babu alias Nisha Chand Ali and Pawan Puri are Indian nationals. In all, there were six Pakistanis in the jail including Ullah.

Reddy said the union home ministry and external affairs ministry had been informed about the death of the prisoner Ullah. “Further action on his body will be taken on directions of the Central government,” he said.