Amarjeet Singh’s body guard Ravibhushan points out the direction in which the criminals escaped after the firing in Patna on Friday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, July 27: Three motorbike-borne criminals shot at the jailor of Beur Central Jail this afternoon while he was on his way home on foot. They missed their target, but a bullet injured an eight-year-old boy playing nearby.

The boy, identified as Beur resident Anil Kumar, has been admitted to a government hospital. Sources said he was out of danger.

The incident occurred around 2.50pm when the jailor, Amarjeet Singh, accompanied by his bodyguard Ravibhushan and Special Auxiliary Police personnel Sanjay Kumar, stepped out of the main gate of the prison on Beur Road. Three motorbike-borne youths opened fire at Singh and his companions.

Ravibhushan returned fire and chased the attackers, who fled down New Bypass, around 500m away from the jail. “I pursued them but the criminals managed to escape,” he said.

The firing created panic in the area and people ran helter-skelter. The bodyguard said he recovered two empty cartridges and a magazine of a 9mm pistol, which he later handed over to the police. “The attackers were aged between 18 and 22,” he said. Ravibhushan also identified the brand of the motorbike they were riding.

Inspector-general of police (prisons) Anand Kishore described the incident a result of the recent steps taken by the jail administration to tighten security inside the prison and prohibit the inmates from using cellphones. “Even yesterday, a few cellphones were seized from the ward of a notorious gangster lodged in the jail,” he said.

Kishore added that he would visit the jail to take stock of the situation and review the security arrangements. “The sinister designs of the prisoners will be exposed,” he told The Telegraph.

The superintendent of the jail, Shivendra Priyadarshi, said the security in the prison would be strengthened. “We will not succumb to the pressure tactics of some inmates, who are trying to demoralise the jail officials,” he added.

At present 1,860 prisoners, including 150 Naxalites and a dozen gangsters, are lodged in the high-security prison.

Patna city superintendent of police Jayant Kant said the reason for the murder attempt on the jailor was yet to be ascertained. “The station house officer of the Beur police station, under whose jurisdiction the spot falls, has been asked to check if the jail official had any enmity with anyone,” he said. Station house officer of Beur police station Mukhlal said a case against unidentified persons have been lodged. “The minor boy, who was injured in his leg, is out of danger,” he added.

This is not the first incident of a murderous attack on a Beur jail official. On March 30, 2004, jailor Narendra Singh was shot dead as he was getting off a van on Nala Road under Kadamkuan police station.