MAPUSA
Days after a jailguard reported intoxicated for duty, mobile phones were recovered from inmates during a surprise checking at the Central Covale Jail.
The jail authorities have recovered 45 electronic gadgets, including 12 mobile phones, power banks, etc during a search operation inside the prison premises, officials said.
“We conducted a surprise check in the jail premises which henceforward will be a regular feature. Twelve mobile sets and other gadgets were found during the checking. No drugs was found,” said Bosco George, Inspector General of Prison.
No cases have been registered but the authorities are expected to follow the prison rules while dealing with the inmates with whom the gadgets were found.
The IGP did not rule out a nexus between the criminals and the jail staff but also said that there were several other ways for the mobiles and other things to make its way into the jail.
“There are some porous parts through which people can even smuggle it in. There is a lot of ration going in. We don’t know but there is a possibility of a nexus,” he said.
“We are trying to avoid and close up all the loose ends. It’s a huge campus so someone can even keep it somewhere in the campus and they (inmates) can come and collect it later,” he added. The seizures come days after a jailguard was found in an inebriated condition while reporting on duty. He was then sent for medical examination where his alcohol test came positive.
The recoveries have put the jail administration in the dock again.
In the past drugs, liquor bottles and cigarettes were found in the jail. Fights among the inmates had also become routine.
