Lucknow:
Two jail officials were critically injured in Uttar Pradesh's Mau district when prisoners, outraged over the death of a 22-year-old inmate following alleged medical negligence, attacked them with iron rods and even utensils, police said on Wednesday.
Shafiqur Rehman died on Tuesday night leading to the violent clash between jail staffers and inmates at the prison in Mau district, about 280 km from here.
Claiming that Rehman had died due to medical negligence, other prisoners attacked the jail staff when they came to the barracks to take away the body. They attacked the prison staff with iron rods and utensils, leaving one deputy jailer, Rakesh Singh, critically wounded and another, Udai Raj, with severe head injuries.
Rakesh Singh was referred to Varanasi after his condition worsened. Police said that both prison officials were made hostage.
Police reinforcements were rushed once the news of the violence within the jail campus reached police officials. The provincial armed constabulary (PAC) was also deployed inside the jail.
This is the second incident of a jail riot in Uttar Pradesh in ten days. On March 11, a person was killed and several injured when clashes had erupted inside the Basti prison.
The new Prisons Minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh aka Raja Bhaiyya, who has several criminal cases pending against him, had referred to this problem in his first interaction with the press on Tuesday and had assured corrective measures.