Raid launched after Intelligence Bureau intercepted calls and relayed information to their counterparts in the state
Raid launched after Intelligence Bureau intercepted calls and relayed information to their counterparts in the state
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Central intelligence agencies along with central investigating agencies CBI, NIA and the Bangalore police conducted joint raids inside the Bangalore Central Prison from Friday after intercepting calls being made to Pakistan from within the jail premises.
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| IB sources said these calls are a cause for concern since there are more than 15 terror accused, including two Pakistanis, housed in the prison |
Officials have detained a few inmates for questioning in this regard. The raids began on Friday and Saturday, which was led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East Division) Dr P S Harsha and his team. In the process, several mobile phones and other contraband materials were seized from within theu00a0 premises.
Despite several crackdowns in the recent past, mobile phone usage by the inmates continues unabated.
While jail officials were tight-lipped about who was making the calls, Harsha only confirmed the raid.
"It was a simple search operation and no significant seizures have been made so far." Sources however said that the investigating agency has detected five calls originating from the Parappana Agrahara tower and routed to Pakistan since May this year.
The Intelligence Bureau (IB), which intercepted the calls and passed on the information to counterparts in the state, who with the assistance of the city police swooped down and confiscated several mobile phone sets, SIM cards, chargers and data cables.
In the past year, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has intercepted over 10 calls to Pakistan from the Central Jail premises.
IB sources said this is a cause for concern since there are more than 15 terror accused, including two Pakistanis, housed in the prison. On orders from the MHA to the Karnataka police, the state's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Cyber Crime Police started investigating the telephone calls.
"Mobile sets and SIM cards are easily available to some prisoners, who then flush them down the toilets after use," officials said.
Though it can't be ruled out that the calls were made from outside (but in close proximity) of the jail, the needle of suspicion points to inmates housed inside the prison.
Among the 15 terror suspects currently housed in the jail at the moment are Abdul Nasser Madani, main accused in the Bangalore blasts case, LeT-linked Indian Mujahideen members T Nasir, Sarfaraz Nawaz, Abdul Sattar, Shafaz and Badruddin.
Also, the two Pakistani nationals inside are Karachi-based Mohd Ali Hussain and Mohammed Fahad, who are members of the Al Badr terror outfit. The Mysore police arrested these two suspects in 2006.
Though the prison department claimed that they have a full-proof security system and jammers installed to scuttle mobile phone usage, such incidents continue unabated.
Senior police officials said that such incidents could not have happened without the knowledge of prison authorities.
It may be recalled that the Parappana Agrahara jurisdictional police had caught a woman jail warder red-handed last year while she was trying to sneak in contrabands and SIM cards to pass on to inmates in return for monitory benefits.
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