<p class="bodytext">The latest scandal from Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara Central Prison, showing hardened criminals and even terror suspects enjoying VIP comforts, is not an aberration but the symptom of a disease long left untreated. For decades, Karnataka’s jails have been notorious for their porous walls, compromised warders and a culture of impunity that thrives under the cloak of official indifference. The videos that went viral recently are as shocking as they are familiar. They show Juhad Hameed Shakeel Manna, an ISIS-linked detainee accused of recruiting for the terror group, casually using a smartphone inside his cell. Only recently, the video of a notorious rowdy celebrating his birthday inside the prison had gone public.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Each revelation has followed the same dreary script: outrage, suspension of a few officers, and solemn promises of reform. This time too, the government’s reaction has been swift but predictable. Chief Superintendent K Suresha has been transferred, while Superintendent Myageri and Assistant Superintendent Ashok Bhajantri have been suspended. For the first time, an IPS officer, Anshu Kumar, has been posted as Chief Superintendent. Home Minister G Parameshwara has constituted a committee led by ADGP (Law and Order) R Hitendra to submit a comprehensive report on all prisons within a month. On the technical front, a command centre will be established to monitor CCTV feeds from across prisons, and an audit will ensure that mobile jammers are functional. The government has approved Rs 2 crore for new CCTV installations and Rs 15 crore for communication towers. Additional staff recruitment is also on the cards.</p>.<p class="bodytext">These are welcome measures, but they barely scratch the surface. The malaise runs far deeper. The question that exposes the depth of this rot is this: how do inmates repeatedly smuggle in smartphones, SIM cards, and even record videos when high-security jammers are supposedly in place? The answer lies in the complicity of insiders: corrupt staff who facilitate such smuggling for a price. Successive governments have failed to dismantle this entrenched ecosystem because accountability rarely travels upwards. The heads that should roll are often shielded, while mid-level officers alone face the rap. A prison system that allows terror suspects and serial offenders to turn high-security cells into personal lounges is not merely lax; it is lawless. If the government is serious about reform, it must act beyond cosmetic transfers and suspensions. Prison administration must be purged, professionalised, and made answerable at the very top. Anything less will ensure that the next scandal is not a matter of if, but <span class="italic"><em>when</em></span>.</p>
<p class="bodytext">The latest scandal from Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara Central Prison, showing hardened criminals and even terror suspects enjoying VIP comforts, is not an aberration but the symptom of a disease long left untreated. For decades, Karnataka’s jails have been notorious for their porous walls, compromised warders and a culture of impunity that thrives under the cloak of official indifference. The videos that went viral recently are as shocking as they are familiar. They show Juhad Hameed Shakeel Manna, an ISIS-linked detainee accused of recruiting for the terror group, casually using a smartphone inside his cell. Only recently, the video of a notorious rowdy celebrating his birthday inside the prison had gone public.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Each revelation has followed the same dreary script: outrage, suspension of a few officers, and solemn promises of reform. This time too, the government’s reaction has been swift but predictable. Chief Superintendent K Suresha has been transferred, while Superintendent Myageri and Assistant Superintendent Ashok Bhajantri have been suspended. For the first time, an IPS officer, Anshu Kumar, has been posted as Chief Superintendent. Home Minister G Parameshwara has constituted a committee led by ADGP (Law and Order) R Hitendra to submit a comprehensive report on all prisons within a month. On the technical front, a command centre will be established to monitor CCTV feeds from across prisons, and an audit will ensure that mobile jammers are functional. The government has approved Rs 2 crore for new CCTV installations and Rs 15 crore for communication towers. Additional staff recruitment is also on the cards.</p>.<p class="bodytext">These are welcome measures, but they barely scratch the surface. The malaise runs far deeper. The question that exposes the depth of this rot is this: how do inmates repeatedly smuggle in smartphones, SIM cards, and even record videos when high-security jammers are supposedly in place? The answer lies in the complicity of insiders: corrupt staff who facilitate such smuggling for a price. Successive governments have failed to dismantle this entrenched ecosystem because accountability rarely travels upwards. The heads that should roll are often shielded, while mid-level officers alone face the rap. A prison system that allows terror suspects and serial offenders to turn high-security cells into personal lounges is not merely lax; it is lawless. If the government is serious about reform, it must act beyond cosmetic transfers and suspensions. Prison administration must be purged, professionalised, and made answerable at the very top. Anything less will ensure that the next scandal is not a matter of if, but <span class="italic"><em>when</em></span>.</p>
