Eight cell phones and a few handcrafted knives have been seized by the Tihar jail administration from the Mandoli jail. According to the officers, five jail officials have also been suspended for planning to bring these products illegally into the Mandoli Prison.
The jail administration had received information about some phones, knives, and other prohibited things placed inside the jail grounds, according to Director General Sanjay Beniwal. Eight mobile phones were found in various Mandoli jail cells after a special inspection squad was set at the prison headquarters in Tihar to tighten down on the usage of illegal devices brought into the prison.
Eight handcrafted knives were also found, and white lime and some cigarettes have also been taken out from the prison. The mobile phones were collected from hidden areas such as toilet doors, beneath tiles, water tanks, non-working water pipelines, etc.
The Special Search team and 104 members of the Tamil Nadu Special Police conducted the operation. The Prison Department has launched an internal investigation into the involvement of jail employees in allowing the phones. Two Deputy Superintendents and three Head Warders have been suspended for breach of duty after receiving information from the D-G Prisons.
Since there have been stories of extortion rackets and hatchet jobs reportedly being carried out from inside the Tihar jail, cell phone use inside the jail has been questioned. According to a senior officer, prisoners, ranging from awaiting trial prisoner Sukesh Chandrashekhar to mobster Lawrence Bishnoi, collaborated with jail staff to bring in cell phones.
