Police gets call details of jail birds on Facebook

The Kerala Police has obtained call details of three murder accused who were allegedly using mobile phones and were accessing the social media from inside Kozhikode prison, police sources said.

According to the sources, a few more SIM cards used by these undertrials were identified and the probe is still on. The call details were recorded through the tower located close to the jail.
Director General of Police (Jails) Alexander Jacob is overseeing the probe.

Some TV channels here, earlier this week, aired visuals of three undertrial prisoners charged with the murder of a former CPI-M leader T.P. Chandrasekheran last year who were found to have posted photographs on Facebook.

Kodi Sunni, Kirmani Manoj and Mohammed Shafi, among the 36 accused in the murder case, posed within the jail premises, wearing shorts and sunglasses, and posted their photographs on Facebook.

And what has come as the most serious lapse was that one of the SIM cards used by Kirmani Manoj inside the jail was the very same one which he had used to contact people before and after committing the murder.

More than two dozen lower level jail staff's have been transferred and a top jail official was also suspended.

State Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan came under severe attack from his Congress party colleagues for the grave lapses and have even written to the party high command seeking his removal.

"I do not wish to make any statement on this in public domain, instead I will do it at the appropriate party forum," Radhakrishnan told reporters Thursday.

Police have now begun a detailed probe in the calls made by these accused while in custody and is expected to call on those who were contacted by the prisoners, while in jail.

Police suspects that expensive mobile phones were supplied to these undertrials by a gold smuggler who is currently jailed in a smuggling case.

The probe team is also investigating if jail officials in any way helped them.