When Bajrangi put the pistol on Rathi's chest after a heated exchange, he shot him with the same weapon, police said.
Bajrangi was kept in a cell with 10 other inmates, including Rathi. The 51-year-old criminal was shot ten times and then his body was dumped into a gutter inside the prison premises.
Bajrangi, who carried a reward of Rs 7 lakh on his head, was shifted to the Baghpat prison from Jhansi jail late on Sunday for a hearing in a district court.
The killing of gangster Munna Bajrangi in an Uttar Pradesh jail was not an isolated case, with quite a few cases being reported in the state in the last years.
- Anurag Tripathi alias Annu, said to be close to a sharpshooter of the Munna Bajrangi gang, was shot at inside Varanasi jail by another murder accused Santosh Gupta on May 13, 2015. In this case, the firearm was smuggled inside the prison in the body of an air cooler to avoid metal-detectors, a senior police officer said.
- Annu had killed a local corporater in Varanasi Banshi Yadav, who was lodged in the jail on March 2, 2004, after he was called at the jail entrance gate on the pretext of meeting a visitor.
- On June 22, 2011, YC Sachan, a key accused in the NRHM scam, was found dead inside the Lucknow jail. His body was found in a jail toilet in a sitting position with nine injuries caused by shaving blade. His leather belt was found tied around his neck with its other end tied to window grill.
After the killing of 51-year-old Bajrangi inside Baghpat jail, the security of state prisons has again come under scanner. He was listed as an accused in 40 criminal cases, including those of murder and extortion.
Presently several gangsters including Babloo Srivastava, Mukhtar Ansari, Brijesh Singh, Monuy Pahadi, Anil Dujana, Chandan Singh, Sanjeev Maheshwari and Shyambabu Pasi were lodged in state's jails.
Quite a number of them have requested that they be shifted from their present jail, fearing attack by co-inmates or "stage-managed encounters".
(With PTI inputs)