STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Mired in controversies over mismanagement as also ‘free for all’ inmates , the Kot Bhalwal jail again hogged headlines after J&K Police seized 10 mobiles phones with SIMs cards, chargers, pen drives from some inmates of the high-security Central prison during a surprise search operation on Thursday, officials said. However, no word came about the delinquent officers responsible for giving premium in terms of facilities to the inmates including Pakistan based terrorists, having far reaching consequences for the national security.
No action against jail staff responsible for giving facilities to prisoners including hardcore terrorists
The raid was conducted by a team of police and CID wing this morning after specific inputs were received that mobile phones were being used by terrorists lodged in the jail.
Ten mobile phones with most of the SIM cards of Airtel have been seized from them, they said. Some more items like chargers, pen drives and ear phones have been recovered as well, reports said.
The teams are conducting further scrutiny and questioning inmates and jail staff about how mobiles and SIM cards reached inside the complex, they said. All the Airtel SIM numbers are local. These SIMs have been issued on fake names without any verification.
Action will also be taken against Airtel staffers responsible for issuing these SIM cards, which are biggest threat for the national security, said a senior police officer.
On May 3, 2021, in a surprise raid conducted at Kot Bhalwal Central Jail, the Counter Intelligence Wing of Jammu & Kashmir Police had also recovered five mobile phones and SIM cards.
The raid was carried out after Jammu police had arrested a jail staffer in Gandhi Nagar firing case wherein Royal Singh and his associates were booked. Vital leads were developed by police during questioning of arrested jail staffer Kuldeep Kumar.
A senior police official said they cannot rule out the involvement of other jail staff members in providing mobile phone facilities to jail inmates including the terrorists.
In January 2019, in a similar raid, police had recovered a large number of mobile phone and SIM cards. Police registered an FIR to investigate this case further, however, no action was taken against any jail staffer.
The high-security prison, where the UN-designated terrorist, Masood Azhar, was once detained, has over 600 prisoners, including Pakistani and local terrorists also.