UP’s Ex-Minister Prajapati Injured: Jail Calls It Minor Scuffle, Family Suspects Murder Conspiracy

Last Updated:October 01, 2025, 17:29 IST

Prajapati’s family has alleged it was an attempt to kill him. The issue has snowballed into a major political flashpoint with the SP demanding a judicial inquiry

Gayatri Prasad Prajapati formally entered politics through the SP. (File)

Was it a minor scuffle inside Lucknow Jail or a planned attack on former UP minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati? The controversial Samajwadi Party (SP) leader, lodged in prison since 2017 in a rape case, suffered head injuries on Tuesday night after a fellow inmate allegedly hit him during what jail officials called a “small quarrel".

Prajapati’s family has alleged it was an attempt to kill him. The issue has snowballed into a major political flashpoint with the SP demanding a judicial inquiry.

What exactly happened?

The incident took place on Tuesday night at the District Jail in Lucknow, when Prajapati, who has been lodged since his arrest in 2017 , was admitted to the jail hospital. Officials said he sought water from an undertrial prisoner who was on cleaning duty. When the undertrial allegedly refused, Prajapati is said to have used abusive language. A heated exchange followed, during which the prisoner allegedly hit the former minister on the head with the sliding part of a cupboard.

Jail sources, however, gave a different version. They claimed that the altercation began when the prisoner was sweeping the hospital ward. A quarrel broke out after Prajapati reportedly hurled abuses. The prisoner, identified only as Vishwas, retaliated and struck him.

Prajapati sustained head injuries and was rushed to the jail hospital, where doctors administered first aid and stitches on his scalp. Later, he was referred to the trauma centre of King George Medical University (KGMU) for further treatment. Officials said his condition is stable and “completely fit".

The UP Prisons Administration Department, in its statement, downplayed the incident: “An altercation with a prisoner on cleaning duty at the hospital led to a scuffle. During this, the prisoner became enraged and hit him with the sliding part of a cupboard, causing superficial injuries to Gayatri Prajapati. Necessary treatment was immediately administered, and he is now completely fit."

‘My Father Was Attacked to Kill Him’

Outside the hospital, his daughter, Ankita Prajapati, alleged a deliberate attempt on his life. “He is not well… Despite being innocent, he has been in jail for the past 8.5 years. Now, he has been attacked with the intention to kill. We request the Chief Minister to meet us and listen to us. Our father is not a terrorist. We demand justice from the judiciary, especially when even the complainant woman has said nothing wrong happened to her," Ankita said, accompanied by her mother and sister who rushed from Amethi.

Prajapati himself told media persons from his hospital bed: “I have no dispute with anyone. The person who attacked me is a vicious criminal. I am thankful that my life was saved."

Political Twist

The attack has sparked a strong political reaction from the Samajwadi Party. Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of failing to ensure safety inside prisons: “There should be a judicial inquiry into the attack on former MLA and minister Gayatri Prajapati inside the jail. No one nowhere is safe in Uttar Pradesh."

SP’s national spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan Chand said the incident was “deeply concerning." Ayodhya MP Awadhesh Prasad went a step further, demanding Prajapati’s release on health and security grounds. “He has received five stitches on his head. The government must explain how a sharp weapon entered the jail premises. This is a serious lapse," Prasad remarked.

The issue also triggered memories of the past. When Prajapati was arrested in 2017, SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav had visited him in jail and alleged he was being treated “like a terrorist".

Who Is Gayatri Prasad Prajapati?

Prajapati, once a trusted minister in the Akhilesh Yadav cabinet, rose from being a painter in Amethi to a powerful politician, before facing one of the steepest downfalls in recent UP politics.

Born in Parsana village, about 4 km from Amethi, Prajapati is the son of Sukai Ram, a potter. He did not take to the family’s traditional work and instead started doing wall painting and whitewash jobs. In the mid-1980s, his fortunes turned when then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi set up a Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) factory in the region.

By a stroke of luck, Prajapati bagged the whitewash contract for the new factory buildings — a turning point that lifted him from the margins. Even then, locals would call him “painter Gayatri". But when Rajiv Gandhi visited the site with his long convoy of cars and police escort, it left a lasting impression. That day, many believe, sowed the seeds of politics in the painter’s mind.

He formally entered politics through the SP, rising rapidly with the backing of Mulayam Singh Yadav and later Akhilesh Yadav. Known for his organisational skills and grassroots connect in Amethi, Prajapati eventually became a cabinet minister in the SP government.

But his career nosedived in 2017 when he was booked on charges of gang rape and molestation. The FIR was lodged on the Supreme Court’s direction, and Prajapati was arrested in Lucknow after weeks on the run. He has been behind bars ever since, despite repeated bail pleas.

While his family calls him “innocent" and targeted, and SP leaders are pressing for his release or at least a judicial probe, the BJP government has maintained it is merely an altercation blown out of proportion.

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