Hazaribagh, Aug. 8: Nineteen-year-old Naresh Sao, a resident of Mandu, is a convicted murderer. But he presented a different face with his performance in the matriculation examination after he topped the district securing 76.9 per cent.

An inmate of Jai Prakash Narayan Central Jail, Sao, has been awarded life imprisonment. His life is confined to the four walls of the prison.

Thirty-five-year-old Dasrath Mishra has a similar story. Mishra, another lifer, who had secured 72.6 per cent, is the runner up.

Altogether 19 prisoners had appeared in the examination this year of which 12 have passed the exam.

The hands, which once handled firearms, now dabble in pen and paper.

The central jail has been running a school on the jail premises with the help of St Xavier’s School, Hazaribagh.

Teachers from the school visit the jail everyday to take classes. The school, located inside the jail, has well-furnished classrooms.

According to jailer Sudhir Chandra Jha, only convicts are being taught. He said the educational environment has changed the prisoners, who are now keen to study.

Jha said the principal of St Xavier’s School visited the school regularly to monitor its functioning and guide the students.

Be it Nawlesh Sao, Surendra Murmu, Dwarika Mehta, Shatru Nayak, Dilip Singh, Nandlal Mehta, Umesh Prasad Mehta, Soma Swarnkar or Birendra Kumar, these prisoners are proud to study— that too in jail where they never thought of getting such facilities.

Jha said the school would soon be upgraded to the plus- two level, as regional director (Bihar-Jharkhand) of national open school had recently visited the school for an inquiry. He said the director had promised to upgrade it.

At present, the jail, which has the capacity to accommodate 1,100 prisoners and undertrials, has 2,635 inmates. The jail authorities said yoga classes were also organised at the prison.

Outpost upgradation: The state government has been sitting on a proposal to set up new police stations and upgrading some of the police outposts in Giridih district, though extremist activists have been on the rise in the district, reports our Giridih correspondent.

The state government has also not cleared proposals to reorganise the jurisdiction of some of the police stations.