The Supreme Court Thursday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe an alleged scuffle between officials and supporters of a controversial politician lodged inside a jail in Bihar.
Reports said supporters of Pappu Yadav, a Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) parliamentarian, clashed with officials at the Beur jail Wednesday after a top police officer asked them to leave the jail premises.
A verbal duel ensued between Yadav and Inspector General (Prisons) D.K. Singh when the latter ordered Yadav's supporters, who were meeting him without authorisation, to leave the jail.
When they did not leave, D.K. Singh asked jail officials to force them out, leading to the scuffle.
He later wrote to Bihar jail minister Raghvendra Pratap Singh, recommending the suspension of jail superintended P.K. Jha.
D.K. Singh has however denied the incident.
The apex court asked the CBI to submit a report on the incident by Dec 13. It has also ordered D.K. Singh to submit a report.
Yadav is in jail on charges of murdering senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Ajit Sarkar. A few months ago, the Patna High Court had reprimanded officials for allowing him to hold a party inside the jail.
In October, he won the parliamentary election from Madhepura, contesting from the jail.
--Indo-Asian News Service