Rowdy Korangu, 9 aides shifted to Bellary jail

BANGALORE: Bowing to the protests by prison staff, notorious rowdy Krishna alias Korangu Krishna was shifted from Parappana Agrahara Central Prison to Bellary Central Jail along with his nine associates on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the protest affected normal life  at the prison and turned ugly as prisoners engaged in stone pelting on the staff.A scuffle between Korangu and Superintendent Krishna Kumar had led to protest by over 200 prison staff on Monday night. Korangu allegedly abused Kumar and threatened him of dire consequences. The protests that started on Monday night continued till the morning and the staff boycotted the work. This resulted in delay of unlocking the prisoners and prison Chief Superintendent (CS) Lakshminarayan along with a few staff unlocked  the inmates.But some of the supporters of Korangu engaged in stone pelting on the staff and started shouting slogans against them. They also demanded that Korangu should not be shifted to another jail. Though the CS and other working staff tried to put them back into their cells, the prisoners overpowered them. However, they were sent back to their rooms as some convicts joined hands with the staff, the prison officials said.As the issue was turning ugly, Deputy Inspector General of Prisons  V S Raja  rushed to the jail and conducted a meeting with senior officers. Then it was decided to shift Korangu to Bellary Central Jail along with his nine close aides - Vinaykumar, Santosh, Alex alias Alexander, Chandrashekhar alias Pepsi Gunda, George, Manjunatha alias Idli Manja, Girisha, Pradeep alias Pawan and Charan. Stones thrown at StaffMeanwhile, other inmates were unlocked again. Arrangements were made to shift them in a van with adequate security. After Korangu boarded the van with his associates, his opponent gang members in the prison started pelting stones at the vehicle. An escort vehicle was damaged in the incident and the driver of the CS, Umesh and three inmates were injured in the incident. Amidst chaos, Korangu and gang were moved out of the jail. The injured were treated at the prison hospital, the officials added.Meanwhile, the Superintendent  Krishna Kumar, while working at Gulbarga prison in last June, was attacked by inmates and he is facing some departmental enquiries for his alleged dereliction of duty, the officials informed.