A Correspondent, Jamalpur:

Six prisoners were killed and eight including, district jailer, were injured in a clash between two groups of inmates in Jamalpur District Jail on Thursday afternoon.

The deceased were Arman, Raihan, Shyamal, Fazle Rabbi Babu, Jasim and Rahat– all residents of Jamalpur Sadar Upazila.

Abu Fattah, jailer of the district jail, said two groups of the inmates locked into clashes inside the jail and six of them died in this connection.

The inmates also beat the jailer, held him captive and tried to escape from the jail, he said.

Four critically injured inmates and three prison guards were admitted to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital and Jamalpur General Hospital for treatment.

The jailer, however, didn’t elaborate how the inmates died.

He said during the incident, the inmates also vandalised two buildings within the prison, the jailer’s office, one of the main gates and set fire to several parts of the facility, taking 14 prison guards hostage.

At one stage, the prison guards responded by firing warning shots to regain control of the situation, the jailer said.

The jailer confirmed that no prisoners managed to escape during the incident.

In response to the crisis, Army, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), police, and fire service were deployed in the jail to restore order.

Meanwhile, the hostages were released later that night, and by 3am, prison authorities had regained full control of the facility,  the jailer said.