Baghpat: Dreaded mafia don Prem Prakash Singh, alias Munna Bajrangi, was shot dead inside Baghpat district jail here on Monday morning, hours before he was to be produced in a local court in a case of demanding extortion money from a former BSP legislator. Notably, Bajrangi’s wife, Seema Singh, had held a press conference 10 days ago alleging that UP STF was planning to kill Bajrangi in jail.Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath termed the killing of Bajrangi “serious” and ordered a probe. “The district administration has been asked to take over the probe. The government is extremely serious about such incidents inside a jail. We will take strict action against whoever is found responsible for this incident,” the CM said. The UP government has also forwarded the matter to the National Human Rights Commission.Bajrangi, who was lodged in Jhansi jail after his arrest from Mumbai in 2009, was brought to Baghpat district jail for appearance in an extortion case. He was accused in more than 40 cases of murder and extortion and once carried a reward of Rs 7 lakh on his head.He earned notoriety after killing Krishnanand Rai, BJP MLA from Ghazipur, and six of his supporters in 2005, allegedly at the behest of another dreaded don-cum-politician from eastern UP, Mukhtar Ansari. After that Bajrangi executed contract killings in NCR, Maharashtra and other parts of the country.Bajrangi had unsuccessfully contested the 2012 Assembly polls from Madiyahu seat in Jaunpur on an Apna Dal ticket.According to UP police, Bajrangi, 51, was allegedly killed by Sunil Rathi, who is also a gangster and had been in Baghpat jail since July 31 last year. However, it is a matter of probe how he got a firearm in jail.Rathi, who was criminally active in western UP, Haryana and Uttarakhand and had no known animosity with Bajrangi, has been taken into custody and is being interrogated.Police claimed Rathi pumped nine bullets inside Bajrangi’s body, exhausting the entire ammunition of the .32 pistol used in crime. He disposed of the pistol in a gutter inside the prison, which police recovered on Monday evening.Meanwhile, four jail personnel, including the jailor, have been suspended following the incident.According to Rahul Srivastava, PRO, UP DGP’s office, “Four jail personnel, including jailor Uday Pratap Singh, deputy jailor Shivaji Yadav, head warder Arjinder Singh and warder Madhav Kumar, have been put under suspension.”Admitting that a firearm finding its way into the prison was a serious lapse on the part of the jail administration, inspector general (prisons) Chandra Prakash said, “Bajrangi was sent to Baghpat jail from Jhansi on Sunday evening and was shot dead at 6am on Monday by another inmate Sunil Rathi following an altercation. However, the firearm finding its way inside jail is a serious lapse on the part of jail administration and the matter is being probed.”On June 29, the slain gangster's wife, Seema Singh, had held a press conference in Lucknow, alleging that her husband's life was in danger. "I want to convey this to UP CM Yogi Adityanath that a conspiracy is being hatched to kill my husband in a fake encounter," she had said.Speaking with TOI outside Baghpat mortuary on Monday afternoon, Singh said, "I had predicted everything a week ago. Even that he would be brought to Baghpat jail. But no preemptive action was taken to save his life. UP police has finished him."

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