Man held for giving drugs to an undertrial inmate outside court

A 25-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly handing over a bag containing a mobile phone and drugs to a prison inmate while he was being taken from the district court to Bhondsi jail on Monday afternoon, the police said.

According to the police, a man in a Bolero handed over a bag to an undertrial, Ravinder Kumar, who was arrested in 2015 for a vehicle theft and was being taken from the court to the jail in a police bus. The police personnel spotted him and raised an alarm, following which the police control room and the police station concerned were informed to track the suspected man.

Assistant commissioner of police (crime) Shamsher Singh said, the police personnel found one mobile phone, 44 grams of sulfanomide, 15 grams of marijuana and 35 tablets in it. “When we questioned Ravinder Kumar, he told us that suspect was his friend and he had met him in the court. They both were involved in vehicle-lifting cases,” he said.

Three teams were formed to raid suspected locations. The suspect was finally arrested from Sector 9 on Tuesday. He was identified as Ashok Kumar, a resident of Ambedkar Nagar in Sector 9. According to the police, Ashok Kumar is a history-sheeter and had faced arrest in the past for vehicle-lifting. On Tuesday, he was sent to 14 days’ judicial custody.

“He confessed to the crime and said that he was an associate of the inmate and both were involved in vehicle theft,” Singh said.

Earlier in January this year, a 30-year-old inmate of Bhondsi jail had died of a suspected drug overdose at the Civil Hospital. At least 15 packets were found in his intestines. According to the police, these packets contained narcotics, which he was trying to smuggle inside the prison. An acquaintance in Rohtak had allegedly given these packets to the deceased during a hospital visit, the police said.

Since November last year, the jail authorities have confiscated contraband items, such as drugs, cellphones, batteries, chargers and bluetooth devices from prisoners, their visitors, the jail cells and the jail grounds.

The police suspect these items were smuggled to the inmates during their visits to the court and hospitals.