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| courtesy: Koastler Arts |
NK SINGH
Patna: The wanton police firing in Bhagalpur Special Jail, on May 8 last in which ten prisoners were killed and as many as 160 others injured, is a reminder of the fact that something is wrong with the jail administration in Bihar.
As a rule, the Bhagalpur Special Jail lodges only hardened criminals, mostly murderers and dacoits and undertrial prisoners facing charges of equally heinous crimes, besides Naxalites.
About 323 homoeopathic students, arrested last month in connection with their agitation for better educational facilities, were, however, sent to the same jail, as the other jails were jam-packed at the time.
On May 4, the inmates launched an agitation in support of their various demands, including steps to check various malpractices, such as irregularity in the distribution of rations.
According to official sources, the situation became explosive on May 5 when the agitators virtually took control of the jail administration.
They had turned the prison into a virtual fort, driving away all the jail officials save one doctor and locking the entrance gate from the inside.
After that, the 35-odd Naxalite prisoners were set free from their cells. Food was not a problem as there was enough stock in the godown, whose keys they had obtained from somewhere.
Student Hostages
The situation took a serious turn on May 7 when the agitating prisoners prevented the 323 homoeopathic students whose release had been ordered by the State Governments from going out of jail.
They insisted on holding the students as hostages till their demands were conceded.
Two of the students, however, gave them the slip.
This enraged the convicts, who, allegedly armed themselves with bows, arrows and swords and took up positions on trees and walls. They threatened the students with dire consequences if they tried to escape.
On the fatal morning of May 8, the police moved into the jail premises to rescue the students. According to official sources, the inmates attacked the police not only with bows and arrows but also with bombs.
Gruesome
"Finding the situation going out of control," the jail authorities requisitioned the services of the notorious Central Reserve Police.
What happened thereafter will never be known unless the prisoners, themselves, come out with their version of the story.
The brutality, cruelty and gruesomeness of the whole episode are, however, evident from the extremely high casualty figure. Of the 504 prisoners, as many as 10 were killed and about 160 injured, totalling one-third the number of inmates.
The entire Opposition strongly condemned the gruesome episode and demanded a judicial or all-party probe.
Some leaders thought that the official version was concocted and intended to divert the attention of the people from the gross mismanagement prevailing in the jails.
While the Bihar Secretariat of the CPM termed the jail killings as "ghastly murders", CPI leader Sunil Mukherjee said that "the condition in all jails in Bihar had been going from bad to worse, causing terrible dissatisfaction among prisoners.
He demanded immediate steps by the Government to bring about a "basic change" in the jail administration and the living condition of prisoners.
Blitz
May 24th 1972
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