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Bengaluru, Nov 10 (IANS) Reacting to a video showing terror suspects and criminals using mobile phones and enjoying luxurious facilities inside Bengaluru Central Jail, Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara said officials in charge of prisons would be held accountable for major security violations.
Speaking to the media ahead of a high-level meeting in Bengaluru on Monday, Parameshwara said reports indicated illegal activities taking place inside the prisons. “We have taken this matter very seriously. The government will not tolerate this at any cost,” he said.
Parameshwara said, “The authorities concerned, especially the heads of prisons, are responsible for this situation. They have been entrusted with the responsibility of managing these facilities, and they will be held accountable.”
He said, “If mobile phones, ganja and liquor are reaching jails and such activities are continuing, then who else should be held responsible? This responsibility should be of the jail heads. It is in this context that I have called this meeting.”
Parameshwara said, “The ADGP (Prisons) will provide information during the meeting. Besides, we have also received reports from other sources. The Chief Minister has given clear instructions, and we have taken the issue seriously. The CM has directed that strict and ruthless action be taken against the officials concerned. This meeting has been called in that context.”
Allegations of major security lapses and preferential treatment within Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara Central Jail came to light last Saturday after a viral video purportedly showed notorious inmates – including one of India’s most notorious rapists and serial killers, Umesh Reddy, a suspected terrorist and a gold smuggling accused – using mobile phones and enjoying inappropriate luxuries, much to the embarrassment of prison authorities.
The purported footage purportedly shows Umesh Reddy, who was convicted for raping 20 women and murdering 18 women between 1996 and 2022, openly using two Android phones and a keypad mobile inside the jail. Reddy’s death sentence was commuted by the Supreme Court to 30 years’ imprisonment without remission in 2022.
Even more worrying are claims that the video also shows suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba, ISIS and other foreign and domestic extremist organization members using smartphones to communicate within the central jail, a phenomenon that poses a threat to national security.
This latest controversy comes after the Supreme Court’s earlier direction to ensure that prisoners do not get luxury facilities was issued in the wake of the fan murder case involving Kannada superstar Darshan.
–IANS
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