<p>With prisoners adopting novel methods for smuggling contraband material into jails, authorities at the Central Prison, Parappana Agrahara, are leaving no stone unturned to block the routes. <br /><br />So much so that even the footwear of the prisoners are being thoroughly checked for drugs. Prisoners were found to be smuggling banned substances into jail premises by concealing them in the soles of their footwear. <br /><br />When taken to court for hearings, the inmates often meet their associates and exchange slippers. The associates stuff the slippers with narcotics. This route had become quite common for sometime. After unearthing this clandestine channel, prison authorities now have begun checking the slippers carefully before allowing them inside the jail.<br /><br />However, court hearings through video conferencing have helped the jail authorities in curbing this menace. <br /><br />“Most of the local court hearings are through video conferencing. The prisoners are taken to court only to give evidence,” a jail official said.<br /><br />Throwing rubber balls stuffed with ganja from outside the prison is another method followed for smuggling. However, this route has been effectively blocked with the deployment of Karnataka Industrial Security Force personnel around the prison premises. <br /><br />“We are not able to check smuggling completely because of a few black sheep among the jail staff,” a senior jail official said.<br /><br />The Parappana Agrahara police said that in the last six months, they have registered three cases against visitors who tried to smuggle narcotics into the jail by concealing them in food packets. <br /><br />The jail authoritiessay that agitated by the stringent measures, the prisoners were resorting to protests alleging poor facilities in prison. <br /><br />“Prisoners threaten and intimidate jail officials saying that they will complain to the chief minister, the home minister and the State Human Rights Commission. Almost all such inmates are involved in dacoity and robberies. Some men held for peddling drugs instigate these inmates,” the official said.<br /></p>
<p>With prisoners adopting novel methods for smuggling contraband material into jails, authorities at the Central Prison, Parappana Agrahara, are leaving no stone unturned to block the routes. <br /><br />So much so that even the footwear of the prisoners are being thoroughly checked for drugs. Prisoners were found to be smuggling banned substances into jail premises by concealing them in the soles of their footwear. <br /><br />When taken to court for hearings, the inmates often meet their associates and exchange slippers. The associates stuff the slippers with narcotics. This route had become quite common for sometime. After unearthing this clandestine channel, prison authorities now have begun checking the slippers carefully before allowing them inside the jail.<br /><br />However, court hearings through video conferencing have helped the jail authorities in curbing this menace. <br /><br />“Most of the local court hearings are through video conferencing. The prisoners are taken to court only to give evidence,” a jail official said.<br /><br />Throwing rubber balls stuffed with ganja from outside the prison is another method followed for smuggling. However, this route has been effectively blocked with the deployment of Karnataka Industrial Security Force personnel around the prison premises. <br /><br />“We are not able to check smuggling completely because of a few black sheep among the jail staff,” a senior jail official said.<br /><br />The Parappana Agrahara police said that in the last six months, they have registered three cases against visitors who tried to smuggle narcotics into the jail by concealing them in food packets. <br /><br />The jail authoritiessay that agitated by the stringent measures, the prisoners were resorting to protests alleging poor facilities in prison. <br /><br />“Prisoners threaten and intimidate jail officials saying that they will complain to the chief minister, the home minister and the State Human Rights Commission. Almost all such inmates are involved in dacoity and robberies. Some men held for peddling drugs instigate these inmates,” the official said.<br /></p>