Five mobiles, habit-forming drugs seized from jail inmates

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 13

There is no end to incidents of sneaking mobile phones and other prohibited material into the high-security Amritsar Central Jail.

Jail authorities on Friday confiscated five mobile phones and 250 habit-forming drugs and booked five prisoners, including two infamous drug peddlers (one of them is a cross-border drug smuggler and the other is former Army man Rahul Nayak of Haryana), in this connection.

The seizure alarmed the jail authorities as well as intelligence agencies.

Nayak along with two other persons was nabbed for allegedly smuggling drugs and weapons from across the Indo-Pak border using GPS-fitted drones in collusion with their Pakistani accomplices in January last year. The police had seized two Chinese-made drones, 12 drone batteries, some custom-made drone containers, an INSAS rifle magazine and two walkie talkie sets, besides suspected drug proceeds of Rs 6.22 lakh in cash from them.

Another mobile was confiscated from drug peddler Sahil Sharma who was arrested by the Special Task Force in connection with the seizure of 197 kg of heroin from a rented house located in Sultanwind village in February last year.

Among others who were booked for possessing mobiles include Gurlal Singh, alias Gill Ranjit Singh, and Massa Singh, alias Mandeep Singh, while a mobile phone was found unclaimed.

A case under Sections 42 and 52-A of the Prisons Act has been registered against them.

Meanwhile, intoxicants were seized from a jail inmate who returned from Guru Nanak Dev Hospital (GNDH) after treatment. He was identified as Parampal Singh of Butt village falling under the Chatiwind police station.

In his complaint to the police, Ravail Singh, Assistant Superintendent of Police, stated that Parampal was admitted to GNDH for treatment on February 3. After being discharged, he along with jail guard ASI Surinder Singh and constable Bikramjit Singh returned to the jail. During checking, the jail staff recovered 253 intoxicating tablets and Rs 500 cash from his possession.

The intoxicants and sedative pills that were slipped inside the jail complex are sold at a very high price.

Following the complaint, the police registered a case under Sections 22-B, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act and Section 42 of the Prisons Act.