Ranchi jail officials suspended over video of dancing drunk inmates

TWO jail officials were suspended after a video showing high-profile inmates partying inside Ranchi's Birsa Munda Central Jail went viral, sparking political outrage and demands for a judicial probe.

- MUKESH RANJAN @ Ranchi

The suspensions of Assistant Jailor Devnath Ram and Jamadar Vinod Kumar Yadav were immediate. The footage, said to have been shot a few months ago, showed two inmates - Vidhu Gupta, accused in the liquor scam, and Vicky Bhalotia, accused in the GST scam - dancing in shorts and Tshirts to the beats of a Haryanvi song inside a special hall within the jail premises.

The video went viral online, raising concerns about the alleged nexus between influential inmates and corrupt prison staff inside Jharkhand's jails.