Gangster survives bid on life in Hazaribag jail

HAZARIBAG: A life convict, Yousuf Khan, allegedly tried to kill a dreaded gangster, Sushil Srivastava, in the Hazaribag Central Jail on Tuesday. The incident has triggered panic among the jail authorities, who are now contemplating to shift hard core criminals to other prisons.
Superintendent of Hazaribag Central Jail Uday Prasad Kushwaha said on Thursday that Yousuf Khan, who belongs to Ramgarh, made multiple stab injuries on Sushil Srivastava, a notorious gangster of Ranchi, inside the jail on Tuesday.He, however, ruled out the possibility of any gang war inside the jail.
The superintendent said that jail guards rescued Srivastava from Yousuf Khan's murderous assault. Later, he was rushed to the jail hospital, where he is recuperating, he added.
Kushwaha said that the jail authorities are trying to ascertain the reason behind the attempt on Srivastava's life. He said that over a dozen criminals serving sentence in the jail have been relocated to separate cells to avoid clashes between them.
The easy availability of lethal weapons like knives and swords inside the jail has put a question mark on the efficiency of the jail administration. The possibility of involvement of some jail staff in allowing safe passage to weapons inside the jail cannot be ruled out.
A senior police officer, who did not want to be quoted, said that the jail administration had seized several objectionable items, including knives, cellphones and match boxes, during surprise raids conducted in the jail in the past. However, no drastic measure was initiated to check the flow of such items inside the jail, he said, adding that such items are generally passed away to prisoners by their relatives and friends who come to meet them at regular intervals.
Sources said that it is suspected that dreaded gangster Bhola Pandey was eliminated by the Sushil Srivastava gang while he was being taken to Ranchi from Dumka in connection with his production in a court last year. The supporters of Bhola Pandey gang, who are undergoing sentence in the jail, seem to have plotted to kill Sushil Srivastava to settle their score, the sources added.