Phone-plotted crimes: Bengaluru central jail's secrets

Bengaluru: In the last eight months, jailed gangsters plotted at least two murders and made one extortion call from inside Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara Central Prison, which is in the midst of a controversy for giving “special privileges” to VIP inmates. 

On August 25, a photograph widely shared on social media showed jailed Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa smoking with a rowdy inside the prison. 

The murders and the extortion were plotted over phone but multiple police raids on the prison did not yield even a single electronic device. 

On January 24, six assailants fatally hacked Satish, alias Military Satish, in Viveknagar and injured his five-year-old stepson. Investigations by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) showed the murder was masterminded over two months from inside the prison by jailed history-sheeter Shivakumar alias Shivu. 

“Shivakumar and 15 associates had access to a mobile phone. He was in touch with his gang and gave orders,” a police officer who investigated the case told DH. The murder was the result of a gang war, and police have filed a charge sheet, listing Shivakumar as the prime conspirator. 

Shivakumar and George command rival gangs. While Shivakumar and 15 associates are lodged in barrack number 3, George is in a different barrack. 

The deceased, Satish, was in prison until November 2023 and identified himself with George’s gang. He often bragged about eliminating Shivakumar. However, Shivakumar got him killed upon his release. 

The second murder of reformed rowdy D Karthikeyan was history-sheeter Raghu Gore’s revenge. Gore used Instagram and WhatsApp to communicate with his gang outside and plot Kartikeyan’s murder in May. 

In February, Manu alias Kencha, a rowdy from Yelahanka New Town, sent a married woman’s morphed pictures to her mother to extort money. Police investigations showed he used a mobile phone inside the prison. The CCB has filed a charge sheet in the case. 

In all these cases, the suspects mostly used WhatsApp, Instagram or other apps to make the calls and send the messages.

They opened WhatsApp and Instagram accounts with SIM cards registered under other people’s names. 

In both murders, police found that the mobile phone tower near the prison caught the network bandwidth.

They also found that the top 25 numbers to which the calls were made belonged to the relatives and associates of the rowdies. 

This apart, in April, at least three knives made from steel plates were seized from two convicts. 

A senior CCB officer underscored the difficulties in curbing such activities and suggested that prison staff “helped” the inmates. 

Police raids on the prison do not often yield the desired results because of red tape, he added. 

“We have to follow a certain protocol before conducting the raid. We need clearance from prison staff, who even frisk us. This easily takes 30-40 minutes. During this time, all prisoners are alerted, giving them a window to move the smuggled items. In most cases, mobile phones, drugs and other banned items are flushed down the toilet,” the officer told DH and called for changing the protocol system. 

An ACP-ranked officer expressed dismay that the criminals, caught with great risk, receive “royal treatment” in the prison.

“What’s the purpose of catching them? Their victims don’t get justice and our efforts are not valued,” he said. 

Highlights - Jan 24: Shivakumar alias Shiva plotted ‘Military’ Satish’s murder  Feb 2: Manu alias Kencha made an extortion call to the mother of a married woman May 7: Rowdy sheeter Raghu Gore plotted D Karthikeyan’s murder  Aug 26: Four jail staff found moving boxes from prison before CCB raids

Cut-off box - Darshan moved to Ballari jail  Actor Darshan Thoogudeepa who is in judicial custody in a murder case was transferred from Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara prison to the Central Prison in Ballari on Thursday after a viral photo showed him hobnobbing with gangsters smoking and relaxing inside the Bengaluru jail. Details on Page 4