A gangster has reportedly been killed by another inmate in a scuffle that took place at the Sada sub jail in the Vasco da Gama city of Goa early on Wednesday (January 25) morning. His fate seems ironic since he had been accused of killing another inmate in the jail under similar circumstances last year.
Vinayak Karbotkar had been lodged in the jail for quite some time now, and earlier reports claimed that there was a serious scuffle in the prison with 45 people trying to escape. However, the police managed to break up the scuffle and bring the situation under control. They also said they had managed to overpower the inmates who were trying to escape.
DGP Muktesh Chander later confirmed that Karbotkar had been killed in the fight within the prison at the hands of another inmate, much the same way he had killed history-sheeter Ashpak Abbas Bengre at Colvale Central Jail last year.
Is this payback?
Ashpak himself had been a notorious criminal, masterminding and committing crimes in several parts of the country. He had also been accused of plotting and carrying out assaults on prison inmates. He was being escorted out of his cell for hearing in a case when Karbotkar attacked him with a shiv fashioned from otherwise harmless materials.
Elvis Gomes, who was the IGP of Prisons in the state at that time, had been quoted by the Indian Express as saying: "It was an unprovoked attack. Both of them shared the same block for the last two months. We don't know what led to the incident. During the time of the attack, the prisoners were routinely allowed to wander within the premises."
Ashpak was rushed to a hospital located 3 kilometres from the prison, but did not survive. Serious questions were raised on several issues, including the security of prisoners and how someone like Karbotkar managed to make and conceal the shiv in prison.
Similar questions are being raised this time around as well, with the biggest query being whether Karbotkar was bumped off in retaliation to Ashpak's murder.
