MLA’s henchman shoots gangster in Varanasi jail

A top Uttar Pradesh gangster was shot dead in Varanasi’s Central Jail this morning. Murder convict Santosh Gupta used a .30 bore pistol...

A top Uttar Pradesh gangster was shot dead in Varanasi’s Central Jail this morning. Murder convict Santosh Gupta used a .30 bore pistol and a country-made revolver to shoot Annu Tripathi five times. Gupta is believed to be a close henchman of sitting SP MLA Uday Bhan Singh, lodged in the same jail for murder.

While Gupta and an accomplice have been arrested, police also suspect Singh’s involvement. This evening, the state government suspended seven senior Varanasi jail officials, including Senior Superintendent S.K. Sharma.

Singh is serving a life term for murdering three people in UP’s Sant Kabir Nagar district in 1999, over a PWD contract. The police FIR registered this evening, however, names Gupta as the accused along with Pradeep, who was with him at the time of the attack. Both weapons have been seized.

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‘‘We have ordered a magisterial inquiry to determine how the weapons got inside the high-security jail,’’ Varanasi District Magistrate Niteshwar Kumar told The Indian Express. A separate probe was ordered by the state government, and DIG (Prison Administration) V.B. Singh will complete the inquiry in seven days.

Tripathi was shifted to Varanasi Central jail from Allahabad’s Naini Jail on April 29 on the directions of the Allahabad HC, after he claimed there was a threat to his life, following an attack that killed a police van driver and injured other policemen.

Tripathi had also lodged an FIR against MLA Uday Bhan Singh, two sons of a BJP MLC Udaynath Singh and five others.

Suspended Varanasi Central Jail senior superintendent S.K. Sharma said he had written to the District Magistrate ten days ago about the volatile situation in the jail, asking him to transfer Tripathi.

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