VVIP treatment to jailed ex-MP: Three Lalitpur jail staffers suspended

Two head warders and a warder suspended after an initial inquiry; a branded mattress, a fan, pillows, ₹30,000 in cash were among the items recovered from Rizwan Zaheer’s barrack

Three staffers at the Lalitpur district jail were suspended for providing VVIP facilities to former Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Rizwan Zaheer, who has been in prison for more than three years after being accused of conspiracy in a murder case, senior jail administration officials confirmed on Tuesday.

(For representation)

The jail officials said several banned items such as a branded mattress, pillows, a battery-operated fan, a packet of ghee, pickles, a tiffin box, oil, soap, shampoo and cream, along with ₹30,000 in cash, were recovered from the barrack of the former MP during a surprise inspection by a team of District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) on Sunday. DLSA secretary Mayanl Jaiswal objected to the recoveries and sought an explanation from the local jail officials regarding the recoveries, said additional inspector general (AIG)-Prison Dharmendra Singh.

Another jail official said head jail warders Rajendra Prasad and Virendra Shah and warder Rajneesh Yadav were the three officials suspended after they were found guilty in an initial enquiry conducted by the deputy inspector general (DIG)-Kanpur Range.

He was jailed after he was accused of conspiracy in the murder case of a local SP politician, Feroz Khan, in Balrampur district over a political rivalry. Two masked assailants shot Khan dead near his house on the night of January 5, 2022. The MP, his daughter, her husband and two others were arrested in connection with the murder days later on January 10.