DIG (Jails) suspended over Bastar jail break

Raipur, Dec 17 (UNI) The Chhattisgarh Government has ordered suspension of Deputy Inspector General (Jails) P D Verma following yesterday's jail break, in which nearly 300 prisoners had escaped, in Dantewada in Maoist infested South Bastar region.

Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh told newsmen at the state party headquarters here that he had already issued directives in this regard as his government viewed the incident as ''very serious''.

Pointing out that the sub-jail's six staff, including the jailer had already been suspended pending an inquiry against them, he said the incident was apparently the outcome of gross negligence and serious security lapse.

''We have decided to conduct a detailed inquiry so as to fix the responsibility'', he added.

Stating that his government was taking appropriate steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents in the future, the chief minister said he would personally review the steps being taken in this regard.

Asked what steps his government was taking to combat the problem of naxalites, Mr Singh said multi-pronged strategies were required to tackle the problem and development of the Maoist-affected regions have to take place.

''We have enough funds to develop roads and other infrastructure in these regions,'' he said, what the state required was security arrangements to those engaged in development of infrastructure facilities.

Dr Singh said the state government had been demanding from the Centre adequate paramilitary forces to be deployed in naxalite areas. These security forces could be deployed to provide security cover to those engaged in development of infrastructure in the area, he added.

UNI