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Kathmandu, August 11: One person was killed and 49 others were seriously injured in a clash between inmates of Block A and B. 36-year-old Bharat Chaudhary of Dhangadhi sub-metropolis-4, who was serving a jail sentence in a drug-related case, died in the clash in Kailali Jail.

Chaudhary’s body has been kept in the mortuary of Seti Regional Hospital. The relatives of the deceased have said that there is no security even in the jail and they will not release the body until a judicial inquiry is conducted. Two of the seriously injured Ayush Bhatta of Kailali Godavari-2 and Karna Salaimagar of Mohanyal Rural Municipality-3 of Kailali have been taken to Kathmandu for further treatment. Ayush Bhatt is a prisoner in a drug-related case and the Salaimagar rape case.

Bhatta was taken to Kathmandu by a Nepal Army Sky Truck on Saturday evening, while another prisoner, Karna Salaimagar, was sent to Kathmandu by air on Sunday afternoon. Kailali’s Chief District Officer Gagan Bahadur Hamal said they were sent to Kathmandu for further treatment as their condition was serious.

The prison has a capacity of 150 inmates. There are 700 prisoners. More prisoners mean more resources for the internal administration of the prison. There are two administrations within the prison, one government administration and the other prison administration. It gives every prisoner cash at 80 rupees per day and directly gives 700 grams of rice.

However, the sale of daily consumables, including vegetables, snacks, gas, soap, soda, which are made for the prisoners in the jail, falls under the internal administration. There is a provision in the law to keep a shop inside the jail selling tea and snacks. According to sources, those who do business inside Kailali Jail earn more than five lakhs per month. Two factions appeared to capture the source of income from running a shop inside the jail.  

There is a provision in the Prison Act to appoint one Nayek for every 25 prisoners, and one Assistant Nayek for every 10 prisoners. Moreover, there is a provision to appoint a watchman in a block. Parshuram Rana has been a watchman in Kailali jail for a long time, while there are 22 Nayeks and 57 Sub Nayaks. Nayeks are supplying goods in the jail and another group wanted to replace this group with the plan of capturing the earning source.

There is a legal provision to renew the chowkidar (watchman), nayek and Sub Nayek in the jail at the end of every fiscal year. However, the renewal of the Chowkidar, Nayek and Sub Nayek in Kailali Jail could not be done after the dispute over the same issue in the past.

There was a long-standing dispute between the group of Naveen Rawal and Jayendra Shah, known as “Nandu Sarkar.

According to security sources, these two groups are involved in hooliganism in the Lamki Tikapur area. They were involved in crimes ranging from murder, violence, counterfeiting, to illegal extortion.

The situation was becoming tense after the inmates blocked the entry of administrative officials inside the jail following the incident that took place on Friday night. The prisoners were angry with Chief District Officer Gagan Bahadur Hamal and SP Balnarsinh Rana. The chief district officer and the SP’s team were also not able to monitor the situation inside the jail after the incident.

The administration could not enter the jail after the inmates placed gas cylinders at the gate and locked themselves inside. The situation became tense when administrative officials refused to enter the prison, saying that the wounded and dead could still be inside.

Finally, the jail administration entered the jail with the support of the security personnel after 40 hours.

According to the prison administration, one of the 700 prisoners in Kailali prison has died, 49 are undergoing treatment for injuries, and the remaining 650 prisoners are in jail. The counting of prisoners has also been stopped since the day of the incident. On Sunday afternoon, the administration counted the prisoners.

Kailali District Security Committee has formed a five-member probe committee consisting of Armed Police, Nepal Police, DSP of National Investigation Department and Prosecution Officer under the coordination of Assistant Chief District Officer Kiran Joshi to investigate the jail incident. The investigation committee started on Sunday. The committee has been asked to submit its report within 10 days.

The local administration and also the Home Minister of the Federal Government were informed about the dispute in the jail; however, they didn’t take the issue seriously, which caused a serious incident.

People’s News Monitoring Service.