Gujarat: PCO racket busted in Amreli jail, doctor among six arrested

Representational pic.

Police have busted a PCO racket that was facilitating illegal phone calls from the Amreli district jail in Gujarat. As many as six persons have been arrested in connection with the case.

Amreli police said that a doctor has also been arrested for allegedly providing forged certificates to prisoners for securing bail. The doctor has been identified as Dhiren Gheewala of Rajkot.

According to police, a search was conducted in Amreli district jail on July 27. During the search operation, the officials found an abandoned phone near yard number five.

The search operation was conducted following a complaint filed by a jailer with Amreli city police station. The jailer was part of the inspection squad.

Following his complaint, Amreli SP Nirlipt Rai constituted a special investigation team (SIT) supervised by MS Rana, deputy SP of Amreli division, and headed by RK Karamta, police inspector at the Local Crime Branch.

The SIT found during the course of its investigation that 12 accused were providing a facility of making phone calls to those lodged in the jail for a fee and arranging for forged medical certificates.

The six arrested persons have been identified as Kanti Vala, Shivraj alias Munna Vinchhiya, Shailesh Chandu, Balsinh Boricha, Sura Hadgarda and Irfan alias Talki Khimani.

Police said that the six used mobile phones and allowed prisoners of other barracks to do the same for a fee.

Police said the accused purchased SIM cards in their own and family members names on the basis of forged documents. They then sent cards and mobile phones inside the jail.

“The investigation has revealed that phone calls from Amreli district jail were not made to only people outside the jail, but to prisoners lodged in Surat district jail also,” police said in a release.

While Vala is lodged in jail in connection with murder of a constable during 2017 Dalit protests, Vinchhiya, Chandu and Boricha are in judicial custody after being booked under the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime Act. Hadgarda is in jail in connection with a rape and murder case. Khimani is behind the bars in connection with a case filed under the Arms Act.