33 inmates killed in Brazilian jail

International Desk: At least 33 prisoners have been killed in a prison in northern Brazil, just days after 56 died during a jail riot in a neighbouring state.

Thirty of the bodies were found decapitated, officials said.

The local secretary of justice, Uziel Castro, told the BBC he blamed the deaths in the prison in the state of Roraima on a drug gang.

But the situation at the overcrowded Monte Cristo Rural Penitentiary is now under control, he added.

The authorities say the gruesome violence was part of an attempt by the gang to stamp their authority inside the jail and intimidate rival criminal factions.

Brazil's Justice Minister, Alexandre Moraes, has attributed the violence to a gang known as the PCC (which stands for First Command in the Capital).

"All the victims were from the PCC. It was a settlement of scores inside the organisation," said Mr Moraes.

"Some of the victims were killed because they were rapists; others because the PCC considered them traitors."

Special forces have now regained control of the prison, which is outside the state capital, Boa Vista.

Source: Agencies

risingbd/Dhaka/Jan 07, 2017/A K Azad