Former minister Gayatri Prajapati attacked in Lucknow jail

Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, a Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and former minister, was attacked in Lucknow Jail on Tuesday night.

The party has called for a judicial inquiry into the incident, while the family has requested security.

Prajapati was detained in February 2017 in connection with rape and molestation charges. The court ordered that an FIR be filed against him.

Officials claimed the incident occurred on Tuesday night at the jail hospital, where he was receiving treatment, following a heated argument between Prajapati and a fellow prisoner, Indian Express reported.

According to sources, Prajapati sought water from an undertrial who was cleaning the jail infirmary at the time. When the undertrial refused, Prajapati allegedly used aggressive language, and the prisoner struck him on the head. Prajapati was brought to the trauma centre at King George Medical University for treatment.

“Gayatri Prajapati was admitted to the jail hospital at Lucknow District Jail. An altercation with a prisoner on cleaning duty at the hospital led to a scuffle. During this altercation, the prisoner… became enraged and hit him with the sliding part of a cupboard, causing superficial injuries to Gayatri Prajapati. Necessary treatment was immediately administered, and he is now completely fit,” said the Uttar Pradesh Prisons Administration Department, in a statement, on the incident.

Speaking to reporters, Ankita Prajapati, the daughter of the jailed leader, claimed that her father was unwell and had been imprisoned for the past eight and a half years despite his innocence. She alleged that the recent attack on him was carried out with the intention to kill. She urged the Chief Minister to meet the family and hear their concerns, stressing that her father was not a terrorist. She also appealed to the judiciary for justice, pointing out that even the woman linked to the case had maintained that no wrongdoing had occurred.

Ankita reached the hospital with her mother and sister from Amethi.

From his hospital bed, Prajapati told the media that he had no personal enmity with anyone but described his attacker as a hardened criminal. He said he was grateful that his life had been spared.

SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav demanded a “judicial inquiry” into the attack. “There should be a judicial inquiry into the attack on former MLA and former minister, Gayatri Prajapati, inside the jail. No one, nowhere is safe in Uttar Pradesh,” he said.

Awadhesh Prasad, SP Ayodhya MP, urged Prajapati's release on security grounds, alleging he had five stitches in his head after the incident. He stated that officials should investigate how a sharp weapon entered the jail premises.

Following Prajapati's arrest, SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav paid him a visit in jail and later said he was being treated like a "terrorist".