New Delhi, Jan 20: Jailed Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Pappu Yadav, who seems to bounce back into limelight every now and then, has now given the Tihar Jail staff another nightmare by alleging cheating during the ongoing 'Olympics' for prisoners.

In a letter to B.K. Gupta, jail director general of police (DGP), Yadav has accused the jail administration of manipulating rules and regulations to keep his team out of the cricket tournament. Yadav is the cricket coach of jail number three where he is currently lodged.

"I am bringing to your kind attention that the match played between jail number three and jail number five Dec 17 was played by two outsiders and one Delhi Jail (DJ) staff against the rules. Even our captain raised the question and requested the umpire and deputy superintendent to check the matter," Yadav said in his letter.

"The match played with jail number five was against the rules and regulations, therefore the match played with us may be treated as cancelled or a re-match should be organised with the proper instructions, that is 80 percent inmates and 20 percent DJ staff," Yadav added.

The Tihar Jail Olympics are organised every year. The games were first organised in 1992-93 at the initiative of India's first woman police officer Kiran Bedi, who was deputy inspector general (DIG) of the jail at that time, to bring reforms in the prison.

But the ongoing games have run into rough weather.

Jail officials do admit that Yadav's team lost the match as Balram, the son of Deputy Superintendent K.S. Meena, had unofficially participated in the match and performed well.

Yadav in his letter further alleged that a conspiracy was hatched in the jail to prevent his team from reaching the semi-finals.

"Jail number one is trying to oust us from the semis, that is why a match played between jail number four and jail number eight was fixed and it was pre-planned between jail number one and four. Jail number one is not keen to see us in the semi-finals as we are a strong contender in the tournament," said Yadav, an MP from Madhepura in Bihar.

"I request your good self to please check the score book at your end and tally the scores of jail number one, four and three. Please postpone the matches. If jail number one organises the semis before the desired measures, we will not participate in any match," he concluded.

Three days later, Yadav again shot off a letter to the DGP, making the authorities cancel almost all the remaining cricket matches.

In his second letter, Yadav said: "This is my second letter to you and as last time I had requested you to kindly order all the jail superintendents to follow the rules and regulations of Tihar jail Olympics. These jail superintendents allow their children to play, who either play for a professional club or at state level."

A senior jail official told IANS on condition of anonymity: "It is another tactic of Yadav to rag the jail administration and continue his stronghold among other inmates."

Pappu Yadav alias Rajesh Ranjan was arrested in March 2004 for his alleged involvement in the murder of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Ajit Sarkar. Sarkar, a legislator from Purnea, was shot dead by men allegedly acting on Yadav's orders June 14, 1998.

He was transferred to Tihar Jail in February 2005 following a Supreme Court order to take him out of Patna. The case is still being heard in the apex court.

In September last year, Yadav hogged the headlines for setting up a dhaba popularly known as 'Pappu Bhaiya ki canteen' or 'Pappu da Dhaba' in jail number three, but it was done in the name of another prisoner.

In 2006, Yadav had in a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee accused the Tihar authorities of misbehaviour and misconduct and of monitoring his activities. He had said that he was unable to put up with the "mental torture" and had no other option but to commit suicide along with his MP-wife Ranjita Ranjan and their two children.

(IANS)

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