Faridkot jail warden suspended after gangsters post b’day pics on Facebook
Police fail to stop inmates from accessing mobile phones on the jail premises; incident raises questions of nexus between staff, inmates
FARIDKOT :A day after pictures of birthday celebrations of gangster Bhola Shooter (Bharat Sharma), an undertrial lodged at the Faridkot Modern Jail for murder, were uploaded from the premises on Facebook, late on Friday night, action has been taken against six jail officials.
Assistant superintendent Mohinder Singh and jail warden, Gurdeep Singh, who were on duty at the barrack in which gangsters were lodged have been suspended. The services of Jaswinder Singh, an employee with the Punjab Ex-servicemen Corporation (PESCO), has been terminated. Faridkot deputy superintendent of jail, Iqbal Singh Brar, said they had also written to the 9th Battalion, seeking action against three constables posted with the Faridkot jail.
The incident had raised serious questions on the security apparatus at the jail.
After the photos, clicked on April 2, were posted, police have booked Bhola and another gangster, Pala Brar (Parampal Singh Brar), also seen in the pictures. Brar is also an undertrial. The photographs were uploaded from the Facebook account of Pala Brar and besides him and Bhola, several other youngsters are also seen.
Police have also recovered four mobile phones, including three smart phones from the barracks of these gangsters.
POLICE UNABLE TO STOP MOBILES REACHING INMATES
Faridkot SP (headquarters) Deepak Pareek said both gangsters, Bhola and Pala, had been booked under sections 52A and 42 of the Prisons Act, at the city police station, Faridkot. “The pictures were clicked inside jail premises. We have started an investigation and will not spare the culprits,” he added.
However, what the police should actually investigate and strictly check is the easy access that inmates have to mobile phones. In 2018, 54 phones have been recovered to date or a phone every second day.
Jail authorities have failed to check the ‘throwing of mobile phones’ inside jail from near the boundary wall.
“It is true that gangsters lodged in Faridkot jail use mobile phones for extortion calls, threats and to run the narcotics business. Inmates get a mobile when it is either thrown in the premises; it is also slipped through to them during their appearance in court,” a senior police official said, on condition of anonymity.
ADGP prisons Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota said, “I will take up the matter with Faridkot jail authorities. We have floated tenders for mobile detectors to check the use of phones in jail.”
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The pictures were clicked on jail premises. We have started an investigation and will not spare the culprits who did this. A case has already been registered.
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DEEPAK PAREEK , Faridkot SP (HQS) I will take up the matter with Faridkot jail authorities. We have floated tenders for mobile detectors to check the use of phones in jail.
IQBAL PREET SINGH SAHOTA, ADGP prisons