Kamal Ghorui
BENGALURU: In a major security breach at Central Prison, Parappana Agrahara, three undertrial prisoners recorded videos using mobile phones and falsely claimed that Director General of Police (DGP) and Director General, Prisons & Correctional Services, Alok Kumar, had provided the devices to them.Preliminary investigation has revealed that the inmates deliberately targeted Alok Kumar in an attempt to demoralise him and derail ongoing measures aimed at curbing illegal activities inside the prison.
The prisoners allegedly mocked the officer by falsely accusing him of supplying the mobile phones. They also spoke about the IPL match between RCB and SRH on March 28, stating that RCB would win and saying, “eesala nu cup namde” (“This year also, the cup is ours.”)Following the breach, three warders have been placed under suspension on charges of dereliction of duty. According to sources, the videos were recorded on the evening of March 27 and shared with family members and friends. By Saturday morning, the clips had gone viral and were circulated to a regional news portal around 9am, prompting an immediate internal probe.Chief superintendent of Prison Anshu Kumar, along with his team, traced the source of the leak and recovered two mobile phones concealed inside a pipe in a toilet chamber within the prison premises. The devices had been carefully packed in milk packets and hidden in the pipeline.Prison officials identified the undertrial prisoners as Darshan and his younger brother Abhi, both accused in a murder case reported in Hennur Bande around two-and-a-half years ago. The voice heard in the clips is that of another inmate, Zypsin Daniel. Officials said the trio are associated with the Sunkadkatte Rakshit gang.
Barrack shift triggered backlash
According to Alok Kumar, preliminary findings indicate that the videos were recorded after the prison administration initiated a new system of shifting inmates to different barracks based on the alphabetical order of their names. The move aims to break communication links among inmates and prevent coordinated criminal activities.Darshan had been shifted to a quarantine barrack on the evening of March 27 as part of this system. Officials said the video was recorded just minutes before his relocation.Investigators believe the clips were deliberately leaked to the media to derail the reform process, tarnish the image of the prison administration, and demoralise senior officials of the Prison and Correctional Services Department.A complaint was filed at the Parappana Agrahara Police Station on March 28 against the accused inmates. Simultaneously, disciplinary action has been initiated against prison staff for lapses in duty.
Three warders suspended
Warders Niranjan Kamat, Hanumantappa Hadpad, and Shivanand Karlabatti have been suspended for dereliction of duty during the night of March 27 and the morning of March 28, when the mobile phones were allegedly used to record the videos. Action is also being initiated against the jailer who was on supervisory duty at the time, officials said.In a concerning development, authorities also detected active Airtel network signals in certain parts of the prison, raising serious questions about communication loopholes. Officials have issued a warning to the telecom provider to take corrective measures and prevent misuse.Despite the incident, prison authorities asserted that reform measures will continue. “Efforts to streamline and improve prison administration will not be deterred by vested interests attempting to disrupt the system,” a senior official said.
