7 mobiles seized from Kapurthala jail; January count reaches 16

Taking the count of mobiles seized inside the Kapurthala Modern Jail from prisoners this month to 16, the Kotwali Police recovered seven more mobiles on Tuesday. In contrast, 94 mobiles were recovered during the entire last year (2019). Eight batteries and six SIMs (subscriber identification modules) were also seized from undertrial Gurpreet Singh of Bhanolanga village; Jaspal Singh of Alaudinpur village; Avtar Singh, of Kapurthala and five other prisoners, who the police did not name.

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Record with the Kotwali police shows that 170 mobile phones were recovered from prisoners in 2018; 85 in 2017; 82 in 2016; 75 in 2015; 70 in 2014 and 48 in 2013.

The recoveries were made after assistant jail superintendent Sarabjit Singh led a team of officers Hardev and Gurdev to conduct an inspection. The mobiles, SIMs and batteries were found concealed in bathrooms and clothes of the prisoners’ cells. All cases of such banned material being recovered have been forwarded to the Kapurthala police. With such frequent recovery of mobiles, serious question marks have risen over security arrangements in the jail. Thirteen jammers have been installed to block 2G or 3G signals, but mobiles continue to work in most parts of the jail.

2 mobiles recovered from

Faridkot jail; Jan count 14

Faridkot Two mobiles were recovered during an inspection at Faridkot Modern Jail on Tuesday, taking the count of phones recovered in January to 14. In 2019, 100 phones were recovered. The Faridkot City police have registered an FIR under Sections 42 and 52A of the Prisons Act against an inmate Vishal Sharma of Mansa on the complaint of assistant jail superintendent Karnail Singh.