Inmate Celebrates Birthday At UP's High-Security Prison, Video Goes Viral

When an undertrial at a jail in Uttar Pradesh turned 40, he decided to hold a party inside. A cake was ordered and numerous candles were added to it. The birthday boy blew out the candles, sliced the cake and fed it to people who aren't visible in the video reportedly shot by the jail staff.

Everything was fine till there was a leak. The video went crazy viral on social media and highlighted serious security lapses.

In the 1.13-minute video shot on Monday at a high-security prison in Faizabad district, Shivendra Singh, who is involved in over a dozen cases, can be seen sitting outside his cell with a cake placed on a table. The cake has a life-size image of Shivendra wearing a striped pullover over a pair of jeans. There is a pink lighter and knife lying on the table.

He looks excited and at one point calls out "bhaiyya" and asks "phoonkein?" (Should I blow the candles). The ritual follows after which he smears the face of a person, not visible, with cake. He then asks others, also not in the frame, to have cake.

Shivendra Singh has been a resident of the Faizabad district jail for the last six months. While it hasn't been established who shot the video or helped with the arrangements, Shivendra Singh, while appearing in court on Saturday for a hearing, spoke to vernacular media about his birthday party in jail. He paid Rs 1 lakh to the jailer for the celebrations, he told reporters. He also alleged that all facilities, including the use of mobile phones, are available inside the jail for a price.

An embarrassed UP government has ordered an enquiry.

Earlier this month, a gangster in Uttar Pradesh, Munna Bajrangi, was shot dead inside a prison in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat district, just a week after his wife had alleged a threat to his life. Munna Bajrangi, who was accused of killing a BJP leader in 2005, was to be produced in a court in Baghpat that morning.

In April, a noted gangster lodged at Punjab's Faridkot Central Jail celebrated his birthday with other inmates and posted photographs on Facebook.