Hindu inmates of Vijayapura jail allege attack by Muslims day after Pran Pratishtha at Ayodhya

VIJAYAPURA: Communal tensions seem to have penetrated behind the high walls of the central jail here with Muslim inmates allegedly attacking Hindus prisoners in the presence of a jail official a day after the Pran Pratishtha ceremony was held at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Parameshwar Jadhav and a few other inmates conducted puja on Pran Pratishtha day; (centre) Jadhav in a leaked video and (right) Sheik Ahmed allegedly led the attack by the Muslim inmates.

In a leaked video, one of the inmates, Parameshwar Jadhav, said that some of them had sought permission from the jail officials to conduct puja on the occasion of the Ayodhya temple consecration, which was denied. But Parameshwar (Deva) Jadhav, Ramesh Dalav and Pradeep Mane, all from Maharashtra, went ahead and did puja to a portrait of Lord Ram in their cell and distributed prasad among the jail inmates.

Angered by this, jail superintendent Imamsab Myageri called the Hindu inmates and got them thrashed by Muslim inmates, it was alleged in the video. It is alleged that murder accused Sheik Ahmed Modi and his henchmen carried out the attack with the backing of the jail officials.

After the video was leaked, Hindu groups have protested against the attack on the inmates of the community and have demanded action against the jail officials.