For decades, Bengaluru Central Jail, which was later shifted to Parappana Agrahara, has been synonymous with lawlessness.
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The viral video of Srinivasa alias Gubbachhi Seena, a notorious rowdy-sheeter lodged in Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara Central Prison for allegedly murdering a rival, celebrating his birthday inside jail, once again exposes the deep rot in Karnataka’s prison administration. The video shows inmates cheering him with cake, garlands, and a visible knife, laying bare the collapse of control inside the prison. For decades, Bengaluru Central Jail, which was later shifted to Parappana Agrahara, has been synonymous with lawlessness. From VIP treatment for the powerful to criminal syndicates operating freely, the prison has repeatedly mocked the concept of incarceration and reform. How do smartphones, weapons, and drugs routinely find their way inside? The answer is clear: Such breaches cannot occur without the collusion or wilful neglect of prison officers at multiple levels.
Actor Darshan Thoogudeepa’s case serves as a telling example. Last year, while in judicial custody, he was caught on camera smoking and sipping a beverage with known underworld figures. The footage epitomised the culture of privilege and disregard for rules. When the Supreme Court cancelled his bail in August 2025 in the Renukaswamy murder case, it issued a stern warning that the jail superintendent would be suspended if VIP or “five-star” treatment were extended to the actor. The rot, however, runs deeper. The 2017 scandal involving V K Sasikala, political aide to the late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, remains a textbook case of how the jail was converted into a luxury retreat. The Vinay Kumar Committee confirmed that she was provided special facilities after bribes reportedly changed hands. Despite the findings, little has changed.
Suspending a superintendent or ordering inquiries after every scandal is meaningless. These episodes are not isolated but symptoms of an entrenched ecosystem where corruption, intimidation, and complacency thrive. Prison warders are often complicit, oversight is perfunctory, and senior officers seldom conduct genuine inspections or hold subordinates accountable. The government must confront this decay with structural reform: independent monitoring of CCTV systems, frequent personnel rotation, surprise inspections by the Lok Ayukta, and criminal prosecution of complicit officers. Karnataka cannot allow its prisons to remain sanctuaries for the powerful. A birthday celebration inside a high-security jail may appear farcical, but it signals something far graver – the utter erosion of state authority behind bars. The government must act decisively, not by making a scapegoat of some officer, but by dismantling the nexus of corruption and restoring the rule of law so that the state’s prisons are freed from the grip of criminal elements.