Smartphone in hand, Netflix on TV: Bengaluru prison inmates have it all

DGP suspends three staff, orders inquiry into how phones smuggled into jail.

Bengaluru: Three Bengaluru Central Prison officials were suspended after viral videos showed inmates illegally using mobile phones and watching TV inside their cells.

In one of the videos, the inmates claimed that Director General of Police (Prisons) Alok Kumar himself facilitated the phone use. Internal inquiries by senior prison officials revealed that this was a "ploy" to defame the top official.

Kumar has suspended jail warders Niranjan Kamath, Hanumantappa Hadpad, and Shivanand Karlabatti, while disciplinary action has been initiated against one jailer who was on supervisory duty, sources told DH.

Sources suggested that the videos were shot because DGP Kumar had tightened rules inside the state's largest prison, as part of a conspiracy to "defame" him.

The videos, believed to have been shot on the night of March 27-28, surfaced on Saturday after a news portal released them, showing inmates using smartphones and watching television.

"See here, friends, this guy is using a mobile phone. See here, they are watching a Netflix movie on TV," one of the inmates is heard saying in the video, while another laughs.

In another video, the same inmate, whose face was seen, was heard saying, "Tomorrow is the match; Ee sala cup namde. We were given these phones by Alok Kumar. If you pay money here, you will get anything."

Ee sala cup namde (this time, the cup is ours) is a popular slogan used by the fans of IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). 

After the videos surfaced, prison officials questioned three inmates — Darshan, Abhi, and Zypsin Daniel — who reportedly revealed that their motive was to defame DGP Kumar.

Darshan and Abhi, who are jailed in a murder case in Hennur, were behind the conspiracy, while Daniel's voice was heard in the video.

Prison authorities have moved the inmates in question to separate cells.  They also searched Barrack Number 9 and found mobile phones hidden in toilet chamber pipes, wrapped in used milk packets.

Officials also found an active Airtel signal in parts of the prison premises and directed the telecom provider to take necessary steps.

An inquiry is underway to identify the source of the smartphones and how they were smuggled into the prison. A separate case has also been opened at the Parappana Agrahara police station.