A surprise raid on the Berhampur circle jail in Odisha on Monday led to seizure of mobile phones, large quantity of cash, sharp weapons and narcotics from its cells, including the one where arrested former Congress MLA Ramesh Jena is housed.
The seizures also hint that even after his arrest, Ramesh, alleged to be heading a crime syndicate, was continuing with his clout from inside the jail premises. Mobile phones, Rs.66,260 in cash, four fans, costly cigarette packets and marijuana were seized from his cell . Total cash seized from various jail cells was Rs.83,430.
The raid was conducted in the presence of Inspector General of Police, southern range, Amitabh Thakur, Ganjam District Collector Prem Chand Choudhary, Berhampur Superintendent of Police Ashis Singh and other senior officials. The number of seized items revealed the slackness in jail security.
The items seized included six mobile phones, three SIM cards, 17 pouches of marijuana, 80 cigarette packets, 200 bidi packets, 1,200 gutka pouches, one piercing weapon, two knives, 17 cigarette lighters, over 500 packs of playing cards, Rs.83,430 in cash, two pedestal fans and two table fans. All the four fans and most of the mobile phones were seized from the cell of Ramesh.
According to Mr Singh, this raid was part of the drive against anti-socials. The police had received several complaints that people were receiving threat calls from criminals lodged in the jail. “The police will investigate how all these banned materials reached inside the cells and action would be taken against the guilty.” The Ganjam Collector said a thorough investigation would be conducted.
It may be noted that Berhampur circle jail houses several hardened criminals, including Ramesh and former Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda.
