‘Jaiswal should’ve been taken to scheduled meeting place’

LUCKNOW/GORAKHPUR: Three officials of Deoria jail were suspended on Monday and a departmental inquiry initiated against two others for laxity. The state also ordered that don Atiq Ahmad, a former MP, be shifted to the high-security Bareilly district jail.The suspended jail officials are deputy jailor Deo Narayan Yadav, head warden Munna Pandey and warden Rakesh Sharma. Inquiry has been initiated against jail superintendent DK Pandey and jailor Mukesh Katiyar.The moves came swiftly after Deoria DM Amit Kishore and SP N Kolanchi raided Deoria jail late Sunday night after real estate dealer Mohit Jaiswal filed an FIR on December 28 that he was kidnapped from Lucknow and taken to Deoria jail where he was assaulted by jailed don Atiq Ahmad and his aides and forced to transfer his business to them.DM Amit Kishore told reporters on Monday, “We found CCTV recording had been tampered. DIG Gorakhpur is investigating the matter separately. I’ve constituted a senior team to probe each aspect of the matter…”.In his complaint to police, Jaiswal had said the former MP extorted lakhs of rupees from him in the last two years.Jaiswal said that Atiq’s aides Farrukh and Zaki Ahmad came to his office in Gomtinagar two months ago and forcibly included their names in his firm and took his and his sister’s digital signatures. Jaiswal and his sister are directors of the firm.On December 26, around 6.30am, Farrukh, Zaki and accomplices kidnapped Jaiswal and took him to Deoria jail in an SUV. Atiq Ahmad, his son and 20 others were present in his barrack.They tortured Jaiswal and broke two fingers of his right hand before making him sign documents transferring the firm in the names of Farrukh and Zaki. They made him forge his sister’s signature and then dumped him near his house.Jaiswal first got treated in hospital then filed a complaint with Krishnanagar police accusing Atiq Ahmad, his son Umar and five aides of kidnapping, thrashing, and threatening him.Additional Inspector General (AIG) Prisons Sharad told TOI that the report of preliminary inquiry found lapses on the part of three officials. If it were a “meeting”, “Jaiswal should have been taken to the scheduled meeting place and not to the individual’s barrack where he was allegedly assaulted. It was the responsibility of deputy jailor Deo Narayan Yadav to ensure that visitors are not taken to the barrack. Pandey and Sharma were wardens of the barrack where Ahmad was lodged. The detailed report is awaited,” he added.SSP Lucknow Kalanidhi Naithani said, “We have arrested Gulfam and Irfan (Atiq aides) and recovered the vehicle in which Jaiswal was kidnapped. Efforts are on to nab others.”