Vikas (name changed), who is currently out on bail, was lodged in Tihar Jail in connection with an automobile theft case. “In my four-month term inside Tihar Jail, I saw everything from drugs to blades being smuggled inside the jail for use in attacks,” he told The Hindu.
“Cigarettes are not available inside the jail, but tobacco is. Inmates smuggle in tobacco by wrapping it in a plastic cover and swallowing it. Once it settles in their stomach, it cannot be detected by the security officials at the time of checking. Once inside the jail, they throw it in and wash the packet to sell ,” he said.
“The price of tobacco is very high inside the jail and it is sold after being weighed alongside a cap of a soft drink bottle. If one needs to buy tobacco equal to the weight of a soft drink bottle cap, it costs him Rs. 500. Inmates then roll this tobacco in papers and smoke those as cigarettes,” said Vikas.
He said that some officials are also hand in glove with the inmates and many a time they are the ones who supply tobacco to earn extra money.
