Jaipur: Two prisoners at Bharatpur Open Jail missed the Sunday evening roll call and travelled about 190 km for a late-night birthday bash at a Jaipur nightclub, where they allegedly got involved in a brawl that resulted in the murder of a 25-year-old man.Police have arrested the duo, along with six other accused, but the incident has raised serious questions about the open prison’s management.According to police, the murder took place around 2.30am Monday at Ikka-The Club, where the group had gathered to celebrate the birthday of Kuldeep alias Kallu Gurjar, a murder convict. He had fled to Jaipur along with another open jail inmate, Rajesh Gurjar, serving a sentence in a rape case.The victim, Annu Gurjar, a resident of Bakhedi village in Dholpur, was Kuldeep’s cousin.Police said the celebration took an ugly and violent turn after Annu slapped a young woman accompanying Anuj Gurjar, a friend of Kuldeep and Rajesh. “The slapping triggered an altercation during which Anuj and his associates allegedly attacked Annu with knives. The accused later took the critically injured man to Jaipuria Hospital, where doctors declared him dead,” a senior police officer said.“We are probing the role of the two Bharatpur Open Jail prisoners in the murder,” said Lakhan Singh Khatana, SHO of Mansarovar police station.DCP Rajashri Raj Verma said the investigation also uncovered an alleged breach of open prison regulations. “We have intimated the Bharatpur police and the jail authorities in this matter,” Verma told TOI.Police said Kuldeep and Rajesh left the prison Sunday but failed to report back for the mandatory evening roll call, instead travelling to Jaipur.Kuldeep is serving life sentences in the Goldy murder case and the killing of Pakistani national Hakarulla inside Jaipur Central Jail. Anuj, the main accused in Annu’s killing, was out on bail in a Bharatpur doctor couple murder case and had recently become a partner in Ikka-The Club, police said.Investigators said Annu had no criminal record and was pursuing his studies in Jaipur. Police are probing whether the alleged assault on the woman alone triggered the murder or whether previous enmity contributed to the crime.Jaipur police have sought a report from Bharatpur jail administration regarding the movement of the two convicts.
