Jailer Ram Prasad Bhattarai of Nakhu prison in Lalitpur, the temple town adjoining capital city Kathmandu, was taken under control by prisoners after days of demonstrations and relay hunger strikes, private television agency Kantipur reported.

The old prison currently houses about 300 prisoners, including a large number of Maoists. Two senior Maoist leaders, Matrika Prasad Yadav and Suresh Ale Magar, were held there till their release recently on the eve of peace negotiations between the government of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and the guerrillas.

Currently it houses several leaders of the Maoists' powerful student union, including Krishna KC. KC was held incommunicado in the army barracks in Maharajgunj for nearly two years when he was tortured brutally. The army first denied holding him but after pressure by human rights organisations was forced to produce him in court.

Though the Supreme Court ordered his release, KC was re-arrested illegally from the premises of the court and has not yet been freed.

The Koirala government has agreed to release all political prisoners but says the legal process would take some time. Though the government has freed over 100 prisoners nationwide, the rebels, many of whom are being detained illegally, have been devising protests and demonstrations on jail premises to pressure the government.

They had begun a fast unto death last month but withdrew it after Maoist supremo Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda issued a public appeal asking them to withdraw the stir.

There was no immediate reaction from the government, which has been preoccupied with Koirala's four-day visit to India from Tuesday.

-Indo-Asian News Service