Days after videos of an alleged alcohol party inside Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara central prison went viral, the police on Monday registered a case against four prisoners based on a complaint filed by Imaamasaab Myageri, who has been suspended as the assistant superintendent of prisons.
However, there is no mention in the complaint of any officer who allegedly allowed the event to happen inside the prison. In the FIR, the police have named Karthik, alias Jitre Patrick, Dhananjay, alias Renukaprasad, Manjunath V, alias Koli Manja and Charan Rao B for dancing inside barrack-8 in Room-7 of the prison. The incident came to light only after television channels aired footage of a group of undertrial prisoners dancing inside the prison, according to the FIR.
Though the FIR does not mention the consumption of alcohol inside the barrack, Myageri has in his complaint sought an investigation into who illegally brought mobile phones inside the prison, who and when the videos were recorded, who sent the videos outside, and who shared them with the media.
The Parappana Agrahara police registered the case under section 42 of the Karnataka Prisons Act (introducing or removing prohibited articles and for communicating with prisoners including mobile phones) and section 323 (dishonestly or fraudulently conceals or removes any property of himself or any other person) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
At least six videos showed prisoners using smartphones, watching television, and moving freely within the premises. One clip shows serial rapist and killer Umesh Reddy sitting beside a TV in his cell and talking on a smartphone, while another captures Juhad Hameed Shakeel Manna, accused of recruiting for the terror group ISIS, using a smartphone.
The Opposition BJP has accused the Government of offering “royal treatment” to “terrorists and rapists” inside the prison. Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka and BJP state president B Y Vijayendra, who marched towards Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s residence demanding his resignation over the issue, were detained.
Home Minister G Parameshwara, who held a closed-door meeting with top police officials, said on Monday that a committee headed by R Hitendra, Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order) had been constituted to study the conditions of prisons across the state and submit a comprehensive report within a month.