Deoria DM seeks shifting of Atiq Ahmad to a high-security prison

After recovery of several objectionable items from the barrack of UP strongman Atiq Ahmad in Deoria Jail, the district magistrate has written to the state prison authorities to shift him out of the district jail to some other high-security prison in the state.

District Magistrate Sujit Kumar has written a letter to the inspector general (Prisons) to transfer former MP Atiq Ahmad out of the district jail here, dubbing him as a "threat to the jail security".

"His presence in the jail is vitiating the atmosphere there. I have written to the IG, Prison to shift him (elsewhere)," the DM said.

Last week on July 19, a mobile phone, SIM cards, pen drives and knives were discovered in the barrack of various undertrials, including that of the former MP and UP strongman Ahmad during a surprise check.

Some high profile 'criminals' including Ahmad, former Samajwadi Party district panchayat chairman Ram Pravesh Yadav and history sheeter K D Singh are also lodged in Deoria jail, making it a sensitive prison.

Facing over 40 cases of various heinous offences, 55-year-old Ahmed is currently lodged in Deoria Jail for assaulting the faculty members of an agricultural institute in Allahabad in 2016.

Having the capacity to house only 5870 prisoners, the Deoria jail has around 1,600 inmates lodged in it.