Sunil Rathi to be shifted from Baghpat jail

LUCKNOW: Sunil Rathi, the gangster who shot dead eastern UP mafia don Prem Prakash Singh alias Munna Bajrangi, is likely to be shifted from Baghpat jail. The prisons administration department has decided to write to the state government to shift Rathi from Baghpat to a jail compound equipped with CCTV cameras and high-security cells, such as Lucknow jail.

On July 9 morning, Rathi shot Bajrangi within the prison compound barely hours after the latter reached Baghpat from Jhansi jail for a court hearing scheduled later in the day. Sources said that before the authorities turned up heat on Rathi after Bajrangi's killing, Rathi was provided a cooler and television inside 'tanhai' cell (isolation cell).

During inspection of Baghpat jail after the incident, senior officials found out that Rathi covered a distance of 150 metre and crossed a gate before he was able to dispose the .30 pistol he allegedly used to shoot Bajrangi. After a meeting at the jail department headquarters in Lucknow on Wednesday, authorities decided to transfer Rathi and a request would be sent to the government in the next few days.

ADG jail Chandra Prakash said, "Discussion was held on a lot of issues on Wednesday including Baghpat incident. We will submit our recommendations to state government accordingly." Aged about 40, Rathi was arrested in 2000 in Haridwar. He languished in jails across Pauri, Haridwar, Dehradun in Uttarakhand for larger part and also served time in Tihar, Delhi and in UP jails. Though he remained behind bars for 18 years, his political connections and notoriety kept growing with time.

Citing threat to his life and to finish proceedings of two criminal cases he was facing in Baghpat, Rathi started making petition before the state government and Uttarakhand high court since March 2017. He was transferred to Baghpat jail, his hometown and had been staying in the western UP prison since August 1, 2017. He allegedly had access to cell phone and luxuries which are not available to normal prisoners. A doctor in Hardwar lodged an FIR against Rathi in November after the gangster lodged in prison demanded hefty amount as 'protection money' for his family.

Hardwar police served seven warrants through local court to question Rathi. But Rathi kept citing unavoidable circumstances to avoid personal appearance. As the matter heated up, the court summoned the jailer of Baghpat prison. The jailer took Rathi to court thereafter in December last year.