Siddarth Sethia
Authorities at the Central Prison,Parappana Agrahara, have registered a fresh case after three prohibited mobile phones were allegedly recovered from inmates during searches conducted in Tower-02 of the prison on Saturday.
According to a complaint filed by B.M.Kotresh, Superintendent of Central Prison,prison staff recovered a black Redmi Android mobile phone with an Airtel SIM card from an inmate lodged in Cell No. 05 of the “F” Barrack during a search conducted between 5.20 pm and 5.50 pm on June 6.
The phone was allegedly found in the possession of undertrial prisoner Ramesh.
Later the same evening,during another search conducted between 7.30 pm and 8.30 pm under the supervision of Assistant Superintendent Kanu B.K., prison officials inspected Cell No. 04 of the same barrack and recovered two more Redmi Android mobile phones,one without a SIM card and another with an Airtel SIM card.
With the seizure of the three phones,prison authorities suspect that the prohibited items were smuggled into the jail with the assistance of unidentified persons and used by inmates inside the prison.
The latest recoveries come just days after prison officials conducted surprise inspections in Security Division-02 and Tower-02.
During searches carried out on June 3 and June 4, officials had seized another mobile phone, nine SIM cards, a Wi-Fi device, tobacco and other electronic accessories allegedly used for communication from within the prison premises.
Based on the complaint,a case has been registered under Section 42 of the Karnataka Prisons (Amendment) Act, 2022, and Section 323 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Investigators are now trying to identify those responsible for smuggling the prohibited devices into the prison and the inmates who were using them.Further investigation is on to trace the source of the contrabands .
