April was a cruel month for the Uttar Pradesh penal system. May has not been kind either. Riots broke out in four prisons across the state. Jailed men in Varanasi, Kaushambi, Deoria and Muzaffarnagar went on the rampage and attacked fellow inmates, jail staff and guards. Scores were injured in the fighting. During the April 2 riot at the district jail in Varanasi, the superintendent, Ashish Tiwari, was held hostage for about six hours and his deputy, who was severely thrashed, was admitted to hospital with serious injuries. Resentment had been simmering over several issues, including poor food, for a long time, but the immediate provocation for the riot was apparently rumours of prisoners being beaten up by guards. According to reports, the April 15 brawl in Kaushambi was provoked when security guards ‘asked’ prisoners for a ‘suvidha shulk’ on Ram Navami. No doubt for the privilege of guarding them well. The prisoners refused and the guards beat them up. During the April 26 incident at Deoria district jail, prisoners were meting out their own brand of justice to a fellow inmate they suspected of being an informant. The guards intervened and the subsequent melee left 33—including nine prison officials—injured. On May 6, what started out as a heated exchange of verbal abuse between two gangs at the Muzaffarnagar jail soon escalated into a bloody fight in which razor blades, sticks and iron rods were freely used. Twelve prisoners and a guard were injured.