You know a state has a law and order problem when an undertrial prisoner issues murder threats from jail.

Bachcha Rai, prime accused in the 2016 toppers scam, has allegedly threatened the jailor and a doctor at Beur Central Jail in Patna, police said on Wednesday.

Jailor Ashok Kumar Singh lodged an FIR with Beur police station alleging that Bachcha, the incarcerated former principal of Vishun Roy College at Bhagwanpur in Vaishali district, threatened to eliminate him and a doctor, Lallan Prasad, when they refused to follow his diktats on Tuesday.

“Bachcha hurled abuses, misbehaved with us and threatened to kill us when we turned down his request to shift him to PMCH (Patna Medical College and Hospital). We didn’t find any merit in his claim and suggested that they would be able to do so only on the court’s directive,” Ashok said in his police complaint.

Beur police station house officer (SHO) Ranjeet Kumar said: “The fresh case against Bachcha Rai will definitely delay the process of his release from jail.”

The toppers scam rocked the state in 2016 and made national headlines after it was revealed that almost anyone could become a topper in the Intermediate exams conducted by the Bihar School Examination Board by shelling out money to a well-oiled racket that included government officials and bogus colleges.

The scam came to the fore after Ruby Rai, a topper in humanities, landed in trouble during a sting operation.

Ruby had given ridiculous answers to elementary questions related to her subjects.

Another topper in the science stream, Saurabh Shreshtha, was also caught on camera clueless about basic science questions. The police investigation suggested that the toppers used fraudulent means to achieve their ranks.

The prison directorate has taken serious note of Bachcha’s alleged threats.

“The directorate is monitoring the development and will shift the undertrial from Beur Central Jail to another jail if required,” IG (prison) Mithilesh Mishra said.

He said the officials were in constant touch with the prison directorate.

“There is nothing to worry. The prison officials concerned will handle the situation,” the IG said.

He added that such incidents happened in jails where dons, criminals and Maoists are lodged.

Bachcha had surrendered in court in Patna in June 2016 after Patna High Court and the Supreme Court rejected his bail petitions. On October 15, the enforcement directorate confiscated his property worth Rs 4.53 crore.