CHANDIGARH, July 26: You would have easily dismissed dark and burly Sitla Prashad Mishra as a contractor supervising some blue-collar work in the prison complex.Clad in a wrinkled shirt over shabby trousers and unpolished ``juttis'', he would often trudge past, his blood-shot eyes fixed before his feet, hardly catching the visitor's attention.It was only when introduced, one would realise Mishraji, as popularly known, was assistant superintendent of Model Jail Burail, second in command.Neither smiling, nor grumbling, he belonged to the class leading a non-assertive existence. But unhostile as he was, Mishra had access to those secrets closely guarded by the accused which took police sustained interrogation to arrive at.Scribes visiting the jail complex for covering former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh's assassination case recall hot summer afternoons when Mishra, leaning against the makeshift courtroom's pillar, would comment on the day's proceedings.Twitching his fauji-like moustaches while supervising the ``mulakats'' of the accused with the advocates, he would abruptly assert in his native UP accent: ``Rubbish, the witness is lying. The accused was apprehended while he was...'' He would go on and on, explaining the incident in detail as ``narrated to him by the accused''. It was perhaps this ``over-friendly nature'' or ``policy to appease, evolved during the days of terrorism'' that encouraged Mishra to allegedly order pizzas for the inmates, or to assist the alleged smuggling of cellphones into the jail.His trial is likely to take time. But today, Mishra, in his late fifties, has no dearth of supporters outside, even behind bars.``He was always sympathetic with the inmates. Not only with the alleged assassins of Beant Singh, but everyone,'' shares an undertrial. ``Most of the accused confided in him. Maybe because he had been here since long.''Functioning as assistant superintendent after a ``temporary post was specially created for him'' about six years ago, Mishra, a resident of Pratap Ganj in Uttar Pradesh, had joined here as a constable in 1972.He laboured his way up to the post of assistant superintendent of Central Jail, Jalandhar. But ``being a dependable officer'', he was called back.``Mishra was not only hard working and dedicated, but experienced, always going by the rules,'' comments a senior jail officer. ``In-charge of kitchen and interviews, he was also responsible for apprehension of Satnam Singh, leading to the thwarting of the alleged jailbreak attempt.''The father of two sons and same number of daughters, Mishra had less than two years to go before his retirement.
