Flashing of pistol by jail inmates "open challenge" to CM Adityanath: SP

After a video of two inmates flashing a country-made pistol at the Uttar Pradesh's Unnao jail went viral on social media, the Samajwadi Party Thursday termed the incident an "open challenge" to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The party alleged the jails in the state were in the pocket of criminals.

"Uttar Pradesh ki jail me kuch bhi ho sakta hai. Unnao jail se mukhyamatri ko khula challenge. Raebareli jail me lag rahi kaidi ki adalat. Apradhiyon ki jeb me mukhyamantri ki jail! (Anything can happen in UP jails. It's an open challenge to the CM from the Unnao jail. In the Rae Bareli jail, criminals are holding a court. The CM's jail is in the pocket of criminals), the party said in a tweet.

Commenting on the issue, party spokesman Sharvendra Bikram Singh said criminal ruled the roost in the jail.

In the video that went viral on social media, two inmates were seen flashing a country-made pistol, prompting the state government to initiate action against four officials of the Unnao district jail.

The UP Home Department, however, Wednesday came up with a bizarre clarification, saying the pistol was made of "clay" and looked real as one of the two inmates was a "good painter".

The video of the inmates-- Amrish and Gaurav Pratap Singh, alias Ankur-- was circulated on social media on June 23 and the state government had termed the entire sequence of events serious.

Additional Director General (Prisons) Anand Kumar had said, "In the probe, it was found that the incident took place in collusion with some jail officials to put pressure on the jail administration."
In a statement, the Home Department said, "During the probe, it was found that Gaurav is a very good painter and the pistol shown in the video is made of clay."