A four-hour surprise search at Central Prison, Parappana Agrahara, did not uncover a single contraband item, not even tobacco, Friday.
Prisoners are being allotted barracks alphabetically, while gangs that had remained together in the same barracks or cells for 15-20 years have been dispersed. A team of 251 police personnel, led by Electronics City DCP M Narayana, entered the prison around 7am and completed the operation by 11am.
The exercise also covers prisoners arrested in terror-related cases, Kumar said. Bengaluru: From monitoring prisoner communications and breaking up long-standing gang networks to transferring suspect staff and quarantining inmates returning from hospitals and court appearances, Karnataka’s prison department is adopting a multi-pronged strategy to curb irregularities and prevent contraband from entering prisons. The new initiative, Prison Intelligence, requires staff to function like law-and-order police, gathering information and taking preventive action. The department has also moved to break established links among inmates across barracks. Monitoring has also been strengthened during prisoner escorts. When CAR police take inmates outside prison premises, prison personnel are now deployed in escort vehicles to monitor their communications and act on anything suspicious. The measures were highlighted during Friday’s extensive search at Central Prison, Parappana Agrahara.
Kumar said the measure aims to prevent contraband concealed inside the body from being brought into prisons, noting that such items cannot be retained in body cavities for more than 24 hours. Prisoners returning from court appearances or hospital visits are kept in quarantine for five days.