Beed MP Sonwane claims rampant use of phones by prison inmates; authorities reject charges

Beed MP Sonwane claims rampant use of phones by prison inmates; authorities reject charges

Beed, The authorities in Maharashtra's Beed have rejected MP Bajrang Sonwane's claim that political conspiracies were being hatched from behind bars and mobile phones were being rampantly used inside prison premises in the district.

Beed MP Sonwane claims rampant use of phones by prison inmates; authorities reject charges

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Sonwane alleged that Walmik Karad, an aide of former state minister Dhananjay Munde and the key accused in the murder of Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, was making calls from prison to frame his son, Saurabh Sonwane, in a criminal case.

NCP leader Sonwane, who represents the Beed Lok Sabha constituency, also played a purported old audio recording, which he said supported his claim.

Karad is currently lodged in the Beed District Jail.

Authorities from the prison, however, termed the allegations baseless, stressing that two prior high-level inquiries had already found no irregularities in prison operations.

They said a network of 106 CCTV cameras has been installed on the premises. Barrack No. 9, where Karad has been put up, is under round-the-clock surveillance of 8 to 12 high-tech cameras, they said.

According to officials, with 50 to 55 inmates housed in a single barrack, "making unauthorised calls was practically impossible".

The prison has calling booths under the direct supervision of an officer and two staff personnel, they said. Inmates are permitted to speak with three police-verified relatives for 10 minutes, three times a week, an official said.

To curb the earlier loophole where relatives would bridge third parties onto calls via conference calling, the department has upgraded 90 per cent of the calling system to modern Android-based terminals, completely blocking the multi-party conference facility, he said.

"The allegations are devoid of facts. Inquiries have already taken place into this matter, and we are ready to face any further probe. The entire facility is under CCTV coverage," said Rajaram Chandane, Superintendent of Beed District Jail.

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