Gurgaon: Jammers inadequate at Bhondsi jail, 21 handsets recovered during day-long search

Gurgaon Police said that till such time hi-tech jammers are installed at Bhondsi jail, they will resort to physical search of inmates

Taking advantage of the fact that the jammers in Bhondsi jail can only stop signals of 2G and 3G phones, inmates owing allegiance to dreaded gangs have started using 4G handsets to plan crimes, order hits, and revive their network, sources in Gurgaon police said.

The Gurgaon police on Saturday carried out a day-long search on the jail premises and recovered 21 mobile phones, 10 sim cards, two chargers and a pen drive from inmates at Bhondsi jails (HT FILE PHOTO)

The Gurgaon police on Saturday carried out a day-long search on the jail premises and recovered 21 mobile phones, 10 sim cards, two chargers and a pen drive from inmates. The search began at 9.30 am and continued till 4pm .

The Gurgaon police said till the entire jail is covered by hi-tech jammers, the physical searches will continue.

According to police, the four jammers at Bhondsi jail can stop signals on only 2G and 3G bands. The 4G SIMS have made these jammers redundant and hence, the search for over six hours was carried out on Saturday. “There have been intelligence inputs that mobile phones were being used from inside the jail by gangsters and their aides. Some complaints also came to us and this made us form a team and conduct searches,” said Sumit Kuhar, DCP, Crime, who led the search operation.

Kuhar said the jammers installed at the jail have a range of 30 meters and many more are cover the entire jail.

“The Haryana government has also taken a decision that soon 4G jammers will be installed in all jails, but till that happens, police will conduct physical searches,” he said.

Thirteen persons were booked and cases will be registered against them at Bhondsi police station. When the inspection began, eight mobile phones were allegedly thrown over the boundary walls by inmates and these too were recovered, police said. The owners of these phones will be identified after checking the IMEI numbers and call detail records, police said.

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“There were complaints and information from sources that inmates belonging to Manjeet Mahal gang, Ashok Rathi gang and those owing allegiance to Vijay Bhardwaj gang were interacting with members outside. The phones were being used sparingly to revive their network,” claimed Sumit Kuhar, DCP crime, who lead the search operation.

The Bhondsi jail in Sohna currently houses over 20 dreaded gangs which were once active in Delhi and NCR. They include members of Sandep Gadoli gang, Binder Gujjar gang, Manjeet Mahal gang, Ashok Rathi gang, Nandu Sangwan gang and several others, police said.

Several hits in the recent past have been planned from inside the jail by these gangsters, who are at war with each other to control their turf, police claimed.