The hunting hounds: Jail killings in Bihar
Prison, a painting by Vincet van Gogh NK SINGH Published in Frontier , 28 August 1971 Bihar is closely following the pattern set up by West Bengal ; jail-killings have started here too. But, thank God, the iron has not yet entered the soul of Biharis. There was much hue and cry -- termed by a local newspaper as "wide public resentment" over the firing in Patna Jail on July 7 and in Hazaribagh Jail on July 25 in which 2 and 17 prisoners were killed respectively. At both these places the killings were attributed to alleged "jail-breaking" attempts by Naxalite prisoners. In Patna Jail there was a scuffle between the prisoners and the jail staff over the death of a convict -- described by the jail officials as a suicide case. However, it was alleged in the Assembly that the convict did not kill himself. Following the death of the fellow prisoner, the prisoners, in a riotous mood, allegedly damaged the office records, burnt the grain godown, damaged the...