lucknow

Updated: May 26, 2020 09:13 IST

A video of jail inmates seen holding a firearm inside a jail in Uttar Pradesh was widely shared on social media on Wednesday, bringing the focus back on security inside prisons in the state.

In the video, two prisoners are seen holding a firearm inside the Unnao district jail.

Watch | Unnao jail inmates brandish gun inside prison, action against 4 officials

The home and prison department officials, however, said that the firearm visible in the viral video of two prisoners — Gaurav Pratap Singh alias Ankur and Amrish Rawat — was not the real one. They said Ankur was a painter and he had made the toy firearm with clay and coloured it with black paint to pose with it.

The officials, however, could not deny the presence of mobile phones inside Unnao jail as shown in the video.

Arvind Kumar, principal secretary, home and prison departments, said a detailed inquiry had established that the video was made during winters earlier this year as the two prisoners could be seen wearing woollen clothes. He said the inquiry also revealed that four jail staff made this video as a part of conspiracy against some senior official of Unnao jail.

Kumar said the involvement of two head wardens — Mata Prasad and Hemraj — and two ward boys — Awadesh Sahu and Saleem Khan— had been found in the incident. He said the department inquiry had already been initiated against them and stern action like termination of their services was likely.

Sharing further details, director general of prisons, Anand Kumar said one mobile phone was recovered from the Unnao jail premises during surprise check in March earlier this year. He said the video was apparently shot on the same mobile phone and it was made viral intentionally after 3-4 months.

He said Amrish Rawat was serving life imprisonment in a murder case and has over nine cases against him. He said Rawat was transferred from Meerut to Unnao jail on administrative grounds a few months back. He said another prisoner Ankur has multiple cases of loot and murder against him in Rae Bareli and Lucknow. Ankur was shifted to Unnao from Lucknow jail on administrative grounds six months back.