Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Sep 12: The illegal mobile phone network operating inside Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara Central Prison has finally come under the police scanner, with nine people, including three prison staff members, arrested in connection with three separate cases involving the smuggling, supply and use of mobile phones inside the jail.
The breakthrough came after a surprise raid on August 11, when prison officials searched the barracks in the security section of the central prison and recovered mobile phones from the possession of former MP Prajwal Revanna, who is lodged in the jail, and undertrial prisoner Pratap Rai.
Following the recovery, a case was registered at the Parappana Agrahara Police Station and a detailed investigation was launched.
The arrested have been identified as Parappana Agrahara prison staff Prakash Mahaveer, Vijay Kumar and Srinivas Naik, along with undertrial prisoner Pratap Rai, Prajwal Revanna, Naveen Kumar, Siddiq, Mohammad Tausif and Manjunath.
The investigation has reportedly uncovered a lucrative racket in which prisoners were allegedly charged Rs 1 lac for a mobile phone and Rs 50,000 for a SIM card.
As investigators followed the digital trail, they obtained technical details through the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) portal, using the numbers registered on two Airtel SIM cards to establish which handsets the SIMs had been used in.
The trail led police to two mobile phones in the possession of prison observer staff member Srinivas Naik. He was taken into custody and questioned.
During interrogation, police reportedly learnt that the phones had been purchased using the name of an unidentified person, Rahul. Further questioning allegedly revealed that Naik had purchased around 12 mobile phones, kept them in his possession and subsequently supplied them illegally inside the central prison.
In another case, police stepped up their investigation into a mobile phone and SIM card recovered from inside the prison. Tracing the SIM number and consulting the mobile phone company, investigators discovered that the handset had been sold to an agency in Andhra Pradesh.
Police then obtained the complete details of the phone’s sale and purchase and found that it had been bought by a person identified as Bharat alias Bhuvan.
After gathering information about Bharat and tracing him, investigators reportedly found that he had acted on the instructions of Bharat alias KTM Bharat, who is lodged in the prison.
Acting on the lead, police took Vijay Kumar, chief observer at the central prison, into custody and questioned him. During interrogation, he reportedly admitted to his involvement in the case, police said.
In a separate case investigated by the Central Crime Branch (CCB), investigators found that the mobile phone and SIM card recovered from the rooms of undertrial prisoner Pratap Rai and Prajwal Revanna in the security-section barracks had allegedly been transported into the prison through warder staff.
Five people have been arrested in connection with this case.
The arrests have exposed an alleged network operating from within and outside the prison, involving prisoners as well as jail personnel in the procurement, movement and illegal supply of mobile phones and SIM cards.
Police are continuing their investigation to identify other people who may have been involved in the racket and to establish the full extent of the illegal mobile phone network inside Parappana Agrahara Central Prison.