CCB raids Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru, seizes banned items

Bengaluru: Bengaluru's Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths on Monday raided four barracks of the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison and seized cash, cigarettes and contraband items like chillums and ganja fillers.

In a four-hour raid, between 11 am and 3 pm, the CCB officers searched the VIP security barracks and barracks A and B. The officers who took part in the raid were from the Special Enquiry, Organised Crime Wing, Women Protection Wing, and Economic Offences.

During the raid, the officers seized kasuri methi, matchboxes, bidis, ganja smoking pipes, chillums, gutka, Chinese brand tobacco, cigarette packets, diaries, knives, trimmers, chargers, scissors, an iron rod, lighters, metal strings, glue sticks, ganja fillers, and other items.

City police commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh said the raid followed the arrest of a psychologist who was attempting to sneak a mobile phone into the prison.

Last week, a Karnataka State Industrial Security Force (KSISF) officer, deployed for security checks a the prison, intercepted a 33-year-old woman, Navyashree KM, a contract-based psychologist assigned to the hospital wing of the central prison. Navyashree was trying to sneak in a mobile phone concealed in her private part. They also arrested her accomplice, identified as Srujan.

A senior police officer told DH that they had deployed a decoy inside the prison and collected details before the raid; hence, they could seize these items.

Asked about a permanent solution to end the recurring seizures of unauthorised items inside the prison, Singh said that the Prisons Department was not under their control. But he added that, henceforth, they will improve the cooperation between the city police and the Prison Department.

This is the second raid in one month conducted by the Bengaluru city police. Last month, the southeast police, headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police Sarah Fathiema, raided the prison and recovered some unauthorised items.