The Left Front government removed jail secretary Bimal Pande from his post following the trouble that erupted in Howrah Jail on Thursday evening.

Pande, also the secretary of Agriculture Marketing department, was in charge of the jails as Inspector General (Prisons) B D Sharma had been out of station.

He had accompanied Bis-wnath Chaudhury, Minister for Social Welfare and Prisons, on his trip to Raigunge.

Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen is likely to hold charge of the department.

On Friday, in a meeting attended by Chaudhury and chief secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee ordered an inquiry into the incident.

Sharma, who will conduct the inquiry, said the prisoners had vandalised the jail with a plan to escape.

The report is likely to be submitted to the chief minister by Monday.

Following the meeting with the chief minister, Chaudhury said officials of the various jails will be trained to tackle untoward incidents.

The convicts and undertrials will be given separate accommodations.

Currently undertrials are lodged with convicts, which was the cause of the trouble yesterday, he said.

Sen, meanwhile, said security measures will have to be strengthened in jails.

He is likely to visit various jails across the state in the near future.

Fresh tension in jail

Tension erupted in the Howrah jail again during the lunch hour on Friday. Protesting against the poor quality of food, the prisoners refused to eat and pelted the wardens with utensils.

The situation was brought under control following intervention of senior officials of the jail department, who had rushed to the spot. Currently, 595 prisoners are lodged in the jail.

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