Five days after five inmates escaped from the central jail in Nagpur, authorities recovered 26 mobile phones and 11 batteries from prisoners in a search late on Friday.
The search took place just ahead of the visit of Pravin Dikshit, Director-General of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, for an inspection. The seizure shows the police and the State Home Department, which comes under the Chief Minister, in a poor light as the jail houses Yakub Memon, convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blast case; Himayat Beg, German Bakery blast accused; and underworld don Arun Gawli.
Under attack for not being able to nab the escaped inmates, three of whom charged under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act, senior police officials continued to evade the media.
Three jail officials, including jail superintendent Vaibhav Kamble, have been suspended.