SIM cards for ₹10,000 apiece, cigarettes stuffed with ganja for ₹100 a pop, calls through WhatsApp. Business seems to be thriving in Parappana Agrahara Central Prison, where high-profile politicians such as AIADMK chief V.K. Sasikala (Amma) are serving time.
This, despite the presence of high-tech 3G jammers that were installed in 2013 for at least ₹7 crore.
The recent case of a rowdy, Ravi, making threatening calls to a businessman from jail has highlighted the lack of security. According to senior officials, jammers are not functioning. Prisoners smuggle SIM cards inside as there is a huge demand for them. This was disclosed by Ravi who was arrested on June 9 for allegedly extorting a businessman and instructing his associates to attack his house when he refused to pay the money demanded by the accused. Investigations revealed that Ravi had made several calls from his mobile phone using WhatsApp.
“It is impossible for us to decode or intercept calls made from Whatsapp and other voice over internet protocol (VOIP) accounts. The prisoners know this and they hoodwink the police,” said a senior officer.
The SIM which Ravi used was procured by another inmate, Dinesh, who was arrested by the Byatarayanapura police in April for robbery. “We learnt that Dinesh got the SIM from his contact using forged documents, got it smuggled into the jail and sold it to Ravi,” the source added. Ravi allegedly used the SIM card to make extortion calls to at least two persons in the city.But they refused to file a complaint when the police approached them.
Jammers don’t work
The police believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg: ‘amenities’ like marijuana stuffed in a cigarprison retail at Rs 100 a stick in the prison.
Director-General of Prisons H.N. Satyanarayana Rao said most of the jammers were not working due to expiry of the annual maintenance contract. He denied any knowledge of SIM cards being made available in the prison.