Bengaluru: Three prison officials have been suspended after undertrial inmates allegedly recorded and circulated videos from inside the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison, officials said on Sunday.
The videos, released by a news portal, purportedly show prisoners targeting Director General of Police (Prisons) Alok Kumar. In the clips, inmates claimed access to mobile phones, referred to an upcoming Indian Premier League match in Bengaluru, and alleged that phones were supplied by senior officials. The prison department has denied these claims.
Following the incident, warders Niranjan Kamath, Hanumantappa Hadpad and Shivanand Karlabatti were suspended for dereliction of duty, Kumar said. Action has also been initiated against the jailer who was on supervisory duty at the time of the recordings.
Kumar said three video clips surfaced on a local news portal around 9 am on Saturday. “One of our media friends shared those clippings with me. Chief Superintendent Anshu Kumar and his team identified the mischief-makers and seized the mobile phones, which were hidden inside a pipe in the toilet chamber,” he said.
According to officials, the main accused are inmates Darshan and Abhi, who are linked to the Hennur Bande murder case, while the voice in the videos has been identified as that of another prisoner, Zypsin Daniel.
Kumar alleged that the inmates deliberately shared the clips with the media to derail reform efforts and damage the reputation of the Prison and Correctional Services department. A complaint has been filed at the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison Police Station against the accused.
He added that action has also been initiated against staff on duty during the night of March 27 and the morning of March 28.
The DGP further flagged the issue of mobile connectivity inside the prison, noting that signals from Airtel were detected in some areas. “We are issuing a warning to them to take adequate measures to rectify the issue,” he said.
Despite the incident, Kumar asserted that prison reforms would continue, adding that officials remain committed to implementing the proposed changes despite attempts by vested interests to disrupt the process.
With PTI inputs