TV
A day after dreaded criminal Hyder’s son and his associates mercilessly assaulted an Under Trail Prisoner (UTP) for reportedly raising complaints against various illegal activities inside the Jharpada jail before the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), senior police officers swung into action on Tuesday.
Additional Director General (Prisons) Amitabh Thakur and Deputy Inspector General (Prisons) Anusuya Jena visited Jharpada jail and launched a thorough investigation into the matter.
According to sources, Jena recorded the statements of several inmates including some officials of the jail as part of the investigation process. The senior police officer also recorded the statement of the victim, identified as Soumyakant Mohanty, who accused Hyder’s son Muna and his associates of assaulting him.
“In his statement, Mohanty alleged that he was attacked by a group of 10-15 inmates including Hyder’s son Muna. A detailed investigation will be carried out and necessary action will be taken,” Jena said.
Sharing details about the investigation, Thakur said, “Cuttack DIG is recording statements of the inmates along with the jail staff. We can only reach to a conclusion once the statements are recorded. Prima facie it is evident that there is an assault. Once we get the investigation report, stringent action will be taken against those found guilty.”
When asked about the allegations of demanding Rs 5000 to give access to mobile phones, the top cop said, “Mohanty has been lodged in the jail for last 5 years. Someone must have taken the money from him to facilitate phone calls as he has mentioned it in his letter.”
“There are around 1200 inmates at Jharpada jail. As per the rule, the guard and inmate ratio is 1:6. As the ratio is little less here, CCTV cameras have been installed on the jail premises for e-surveillance,” Thakur added.
Notably on Sunday, Mohanty was attacked by dreaded criminal Hyder's son Muna and his associates for divulging information about various illegal activities of jail inmates in public. He was immediately rushed to the Capital Hospital after sustaining serious injuries in the assault.
Mohanty had recently written a letter to DLSA alleging various irregular activities including the use of mobile phones by jail inmates.
In his letter, Mohanty had alleged that ganja bidi was being sold at Rs 200 per piece and Rs 50,000 (one time) was charged to provide better accommodation. For accessing mobile phones Rs 5000 and extra tariff was being charged.
