Former minister attacked in Lucknow jail, sustains head injury

Lucknow, Sep 30 (PTI) Former minister Gyatrai Prasad Prajapati was on Tuesday attacked inside the Lucknow district jail, resulting in a "superficial head injury", officials said.

Prajapati, who served as a minister in the Akhilesh Yadav-led Uttar Pradesh government, was admitted to the jail hospital when an altercation occurred with a fellow inmate who had been assigned cleaning duties in the jail hospital, they said.

During the scuffle, the inmate allegedly struck Prajapati with a sliding part of a cupboard, causing "superficial injury", an official statement said.

Jail authorities said immediate medical attention was provided, and Prajapati has since recovered fully.

Prajapati, a senior Samajwadi Party leader, has been in judicial custody in connection with ongoing legal cases, including that of rape.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav demanded a judicial probe into the incident.

In a post on X, he said, "There should be an impartial judicial inquiry into the deadly attack in jail on Gayatri Prajapati, a former MLA and minister in the Uttar Pradesh government. No one is safe anywhere in Uttar Pradesh." PTI ABN SKY SKY SKY