By IANS
Bhopal : An inquiry committee set up to probe the lapses that led to the killing of a murder convict Saturday in an Indore jail in Madhya Pradesh would also look into possible involvement of police officials in the incident.
Jeetu Thakur, convicted of the murder of trade union leader Vishnu Ustad, was killed inside the sub-jail in Indore's Military Headquarters Of War (MHOW) area.
"As many as five unidentified persons barged into the prison, started firing indiscriminately, shot dead Thakur and injured three others, including a head constable, and escaped with an inmate Ashok Maratha," police said.
Absence of senior jail officials at the time of the incident has raised many eyebrows, police sources said.
Only two constables were manning the jail when Thakur was killed. The inquiry committee will look into these issues, they said.
Thakur, who was shifted to the sub-jail two years ago as a security measure, was about to be shifted to another jail in the next few days. Indore Police Superintendant Anshuman Yadav had also written to the jail administration to shift him elsewhere, the sources said.
Jailor R.K Tripathi and four constables have already been suspended by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Manish Kapooria, Mhow Additional Superintendent of Police said, "Thakur was shot inside the jail's meeting room while he was talking to visitors – Rajendra Bhar and Ajay Sharma. Both of them and head constable Hari Prasad Sharma were injured".
Vijay Nagar, a local criminal, the sources said, arrived in the jail with four gunmen to meet Maratha. They opened fire and forcibly entered the visiting area of the jail.
"They entered the prison without making any official entry," Kapooria said adding that gang rivalry could be the reason for the incident.
Jail officials have registered an FIR against the assailants and a search operation launched to arrest them.