Following multiple inputs about the use of mobile phones by inmates, a team of Tihar officials conducted a surprise check inside the barracks and cells of Asia’s largest prison.
On the night of Sunday and Monday, the team conducted a surprise check at Mandoli jail, which is an extended jail of Tihar, and recovered eight mobile phones and eight hand-made, sharp-edged weapons from various barracks.
The mobile phones were used by four dreaded criminals. One of the inmates was a member of the Gogi gang. Four of the eight mobile phones are smartphones.
Tihar Director General (DG) Sanjay Beniwal told The New Indian that two deputy superintendents and three head warders have also been placed under suspension.
“We are conducting this check based on our inputs. We want to completely eradicate the problem of mobile phone use by the inmates with the connivance of the jail staff. In the coming days, more such raids will be conducted,” said Beniwal.
Sources said the mobile phones were recovered from hidden spots like toilet doors, behind the tiles, water tanks, and nonworking water pipelines. Some mobile phones were hung on the water tank pipelines.
According to Additional IG (Tihar), HPS Saraan, a team of vigilance has been constituted at prison headquarters for a major crackdown on communication gadgets smuggled into the jail.
The raid was conducted by the special search team along with 100 Tamil Nadu Special Police personnel at Mandoli jail at midnight on Sunday and Monday.
He also stated that following the recovery of phones and weapons, the prison authorities have launched an internal investigation to investigate the role of other jail personnel.
Recently, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Delhi Police have shared inputs with the Tihar jail officials about the use of mobile phones by jailed inmates.
Alleged extortionist Sukesh Chandrashekar was also caught using a mobile phone inside the Tihar jail. Videos of jailed gangsters making videos from inside the prison also caught attention on social media.
It has also come to light that jailed gangsters also regularly make extortion calls from inside the Tihar jail.
Tihar jail officials also said that they were working to increase the number of jammers in the jail. As of now, in the Tihar jail premises, there are only three jammers, while in the Rohini and Mandoli jails, only one jammer is installed.