HYDERABAD, July 13: An inmate died and scores of others were injured after violence broke out in Hyderabad’s central prison on Friday.

At least six policemen received minor injuries when police tried to rescue some jail staffers held hostage by prisoners.

The dead prisoner was identified as Sajid, son of Karim Bakhsh Khaskheli. He was a resident of Soomar Khaskheli village, Tando Allahyar.

The prisoners used iron and other construction material when jail police resorted to firing in the air.

“The prisoner died in aerial firing that took place to quell the disturbance. They had partly damaged one of the entrances and damaged barracks. Had we not opened fire, many prisoners would have died,” DIG (prisons) of Hyderabad region, Gulzar Channa, told Dawn.

The trouble started after the prisoners took hostage 15 personnel of jail police in their barracks at 10.30am.

Some of the inmates forced open other barracks in order to boost their strength vis-à-vis police. Police hit back by tear-gassing the prisoners.

The inmates tried to go towards the jail’s main entrance, but police foiled the attempt.

Some of the 15 jail staffers who were held hostage were identified as Pir Bakhsh, Musharraf Shah, Deedar Khoso, Abdul Malik, Singar Ali and Mohammad Javed. Two staffers managed to escape not long after they were made hostage.

The jail administration called Hyderabad district police and Rangers for assistance. Police sources said the district police had avoided entering jail premises without a directive from a sessions judge or a written request from the jail authorities.

“If we enter jail premises without any written request and something big happens, police will face a judicial probe. “But we agreed to step in after receiving an application,” SP (headquarters) Amjad Sheikh told Dawn.

However, DIG Gulzar Channa said such requirements were usually dispensed with in the event of an emergency. He said that the IG Prisons had visited the jail recently, but the prisoners made no complaints. “They want to have unthinkable facilities such as use of mobile phones.

Some prisoners even used to deal in drugs until the recent past,” the DIG said.

“Jail police appeared to have used some strong arm tactics against prisoners in last couple of days which forced inmates to react violently,” said a police official, who was part of operation. Rangers personnel remained present in the outer premises of the jail.

SSP Haseeb Afzal Beg also rushed to jail. When police entered the premises it led to a fight between the inmates and them. “Around 50 odd prisoners who were rioting were handed over to the jail administration,” said SP Sheikh. He added that new locks were arranged to lock barracks.

On March 15, 2011 seven prisoners were killed in the same prison while over 20 sustained injuries in a clash that broke out between police and prisoners.