Kumar Rajiv Nayan
Ara : Over 300 inmates of Ara jail proceeded on an indefinite fast on March 11, 2018, protesting alleged police highhandednes against them after a video showing some inmates smoking Ganja went viral on social networking sites. They are demanding dismissal of the Jail Superintendent alleging non – availability of basic amenities in the jail.
Ara Jail Superintendent Niranjan Pandit said that the inmates became aggressive after the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO), Ara, Arun Prakash, and the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Sanjay Kumar conducted raids at Ara jail in the evening on March 9, 2018, after a video showing a group of inmates smoking Ganja and talking on mobile phones went viral on the social networking sites.
A group of inmates, according to the Jail Superintendent, accused another group of circulating the video drawing attention of Bhojpur district administration resulting in clash between the two groups inside the jail. When warders tried to intervene, they were also assaulted by the rival groups. The inmates also made an abortive attempt to break open the jail’s main entrance gate prompting the security personnel to resort to baton charge on them.
The Jail Superintendent said that the jail administration took action against the inmates to maintain law and order inside the jail and check reoccurrence of such incident in future which infuriated them.