Mysuru: A convict, who is serving a jail term in Mysuru Central Prison threatened the jail authorities, including Jail Superintendent P.V. Anand Reddy, of murdering them if he was not shifted to another prison. He also made an attempt to kill himself. Jail officials said that the convict was sulking over a recent verdict of the High Court that turned down his appeal against the orders of a local court.

The convict is 32-year-old Rafiq (prisoner No. 17471) who is undergoing life imprisonment for murder along with his accomplice Afsar Pasha. There are over eight cases against him in Gundlupet and he has been sentenced in a murder case in Chamarajanagar.

He and his accomplice Pasha have been lodged at the jail since the last 8 years and both of them hail from Nanjangud. Both are habitual offenders and about two months ago, the High Court had upheld a lower court’s order convicting them. Since then, Pasha was instigating Rafiq to take on the jail personnel.

A few months ago, Rafiq hurled expletives at the jail officials and had broken flower pots, forcing the authorities to bring it to the notice of the court. As a precautionary measure, both Rafiq and Pasha, who were lodged in the same cell, were moved to different cells.

Two months back, when the Jail Chief Superintendent P.V. Anand Reddy was on his rounds, Rafiq had submitted a memorandum requesting the officer to transfer him and his friend Afsar Pasha to Dharwad jail.

The memorandum had been forwarded to the office of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Prisons in Bengaluru. On Mar. 8, when Reddy was on his rounds around 10 am, Rafiq allegedly abused the officer for not considering his request.

However, Anand Reddy told Rafiq that he had already sent his request to Bengaluru and will take a decision based on the directives issued by ADGP Prisons. He told him to be patient and wait for the order. Enraged by the Jail Superintendent’s reply, Rafiq flashed a plate in his cell and broke two tube lights. He also broke the tiles of the toilet and the ceiling fan with a carom board.

Continuing his wild behaviour, Rafiq threatened to kill the Jail Superintendent. He then slashed both his hands with shards of the tube light. The jail personnel immediately intervened and stopped him from harming himself further. Doctors were summoned to attend on him and the jurisdictional Mandi Police were called in.

Anand Reddy said that though Rafiq was behaving in an unusual manner for the last few months, his behaviour had not been this bad. Hence, a complaint was lodged against him, he said.

“Initially Rafiq and Pasha were in the same cell and had been tough to control. We separated their cells later. Their application for transfer to Dharwad Jail has been forwarded to ADGP (Prisons). Not ready to buy this, Rafiq attempted to kill himself and also intimidated me,” he said.