Bhopal: In a sting operation carried by a news channel, Morena Jail’s former jailor has accepted that health minister’s phone call helped him get back his job. He said that after the call, his suspension order was revoked. According to reports, two undertrials – Omprakash Jaat and Anil Rathore—has escaped from Morena Jain on February 13 through a hole in boundary wall. After inspection, Additional director general, jail, G R Meena, found jailor BS Maurya, deputy jailor Basudev Manjhi, chief warden Dataram and three on-duty wardens Ramavtar, Brijendra Parmar and Phool Singh guilty of dereliction of duty.
They all were promptly suspended and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted to probe into the escape. However, within two months of the incident, jailor BS Maurya’s suspension was revoked and was posted back into the same jail from where he was suspended. All this was done in violation of Jail Manual and rules. During the sting operation, he is allegedly found boasting, “Health minister Rustam Singh asked higher authorities in Bhopal to reconsider my suspension. Later, it was revoked.” Maurya was shifted to Sagar after undertrial Dinesh Jatav hanged himself to death on May 5 in Morena Jail.
Free Press repeatedly tried to contact health minister Rustam Singh, over phone, to get his side of the story. However, all calls went unanswered. Congress chief spokesperson KK Mishra alleged that the government was not serious about jailbreaks. “The government not only paves way for the return of tainted officers but also tries to hide such incidents to save its image.” Demanding strict action against the minister for recommending tainted officer, Mishra demanded a high-level probe into the entire episode.