Amarmani passes first night in Hardwar jail as ordinary prisoner

Hardwar, Oct 27 (UNI) Former Uttar Pradesh minister Amarmani Tripathi, a convict in the poetess Madhumita Shukla murder case, passed his first night in the barrack no 1 of district jail here like any other ordinary prisoner.

Tripathi, along with his wife, Madhumani, Santosh Rai and Rohit Chaturvedi, was shifted to the Hardwar district jail from Dehradun jail amid tight security yesterday, after being sentenced to life-imprisonment by a special court of Dehradun three days ago in the infamous murder case which hit the headlines of the national media.

In the state all those awarded life-imprisonment are lodged only in Hardwar district jail Roshnabad. Due to security reasons, the police vans carrying Tripathi and his accomplices were not stopped at the gate but were driven directly to different barracks of the jail where they were lodged, said SDM in charge of the jail, Udai Singh Rana.

The jail staff reportedly roughed up mediapersons when they tried to take shots of Tripathi and others convicts in the case.

In an emergency meeting last evening, the district press club demanded the suspension of Jailor of the district jail Mahendra Singh and urged the Chief Minister to order an inquiry into the misbehaviour meted out to the reporters.

The Jailor told UNI today that Tripathi, who is being treated as an ordinary prisoner, was kept in barrack no 1 with other convicts, while his wife was lodged in the women's ward of the jail.

''He has been provided with white trousers and a shirt, tailored in the jail to wear, and is being provided usual food served to other inmates and has been assigned normal work of weaving, spinning, gardening and taking care of herbal plants in the jail premises,'' added the Jailor.

UNI