After the leak of photos of convicts and undertrials living what looks like a luxurious life inside the Central Prison at Puzhal on the city’s outskirts, prison authorities withdrew 18 television sets from ‘A’ class wards.
The crackdown came after photos of the prisoners were leaked by the police. From the photos, it seems as if the prisoners are enjoying life at a retreat and not serving time at a high-security prison.
Acting swiftly, the prison authorities removed the television sets after they found that inmates were using the USB ports in them to charge mobile phones brought in illegally, sources said.
The high-security prison has been in the headlines this month. On September 2, a 24-year-old prison guard was arrested on charges of smuggling ganja for supply to remand prisoners.
On inspection of the call records of a mobile phone, the police were startled to find a prisoner speaking to his contacts in South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia and Sri Lanka nearly 40 times using WhatsApp.
On September 7, the vigilance team seized high-end mobile phones from the prisoners. Following an intelligence input from a Central agency that prisoners, arrested on charges of espionage and smuggling narcotics, continue to have regular communication with their contacts outside, the prison authorities confiscated smart phones from many prisoners, including Sri Lankan nationals.
On inspection of the call records of a mobile phone, the police were startled to find a prisoner speaking to his contacts in South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia and Sri Lanka nearly 40 times using WhatsApp.
The prisoners did not cooperate with CB-CID officials when they went to question them.
Under such circumstances, the photographs clicked by the prisoners on their mobiles of a luxurious lifestyle was leaked to the media by the police, which went viral on social media platforms. In one of the pictures, a prisoner is seen wearing shades and taking a selfie, even as other inmates sit on beds with wallpaper in the background.
According to sources, the use of laptops and mobiles by prisoners is rampant. Some prisoners wear branded clothes and shoes, they said. Prison authorities admit that the usage of contraband such as ganja and mobiles by prisoners continues to be a menace.
Additional Director General of Police and Inspector General Prisons Ashutosh Shukla told The Hindu , “The facilities provided to A’ class prisoners are portrayed as luxury. Mattresses, clothes, cots, tables, private cooking and eating vessels are permitted to the prisoners of ‘A’ class as per Tamil Nadu Prison Rules, 1983. There is nothing unusual. If a person can afford to wear a suit inside prison, we can’t prevent that. Wearing shorts and shoes are also permissible.”
“Every year we seize cell phones; we keep on seizing the mobiles time and again. In each case, we do take action and get criminal cases registered. If any connivance is found, we take action against the concerned prison staff,” said Mr. Shukla.
