A coordinated investigation has been initiated after two mobile phones were found inside the Anda cell, the highest security cell of the high security Yerawada Central Prison in Pune. Officials said the two cell phones, which had batteries but no SIM cards, were found during a sweep of the Anda cell by the vigilance squad of the state prison department.
Pune police officials said that during a search conducted on the evening of April 20, the two cell phones were found inside a steel gate of one of the sections of the Anda cell. An FIR has been registered at Yerawada police station on the night of April 20, by an officer of Senior Jailor rank who is part of the vigilance wing of the prison department at Pune. This is the second incident of the seizure of a cell phone from Yerawada Central Prison this year, since April 1 when a cell phone was found hidden in a bathroom of Circle No 1 of the prison.
тАЬAccording to the FIR filed by the vigilance squad officer, he and his team members conducted a sweep of the Anda cell once at around 4 pm and again at around 7 pm. In the second search, the vigilance team members found two cell phones kept inside the locked steel door which gives access to a part of the cell. Senior prison officials were subsequently informed and seized phones were examined. No SIM cards were found in these cell phones. They are cell phones of two different models of a Chinese origin manufacturer. The two cell phones are small in size,тАЭ said a police officer.
An internal probe by the prison department has been launched, an officer said. A senior officer with Pune police said that a probe had been initiated after the registration of the FIR and various investigation entities have been activated.
Officials said that the discovery of the mobile phones in Anda cell raises several questions about overall security measures at the Yerawada Prison, especially on the backdrop of very stringent security measures in place at the cell and also because of the high risk inmates housed there. Officials said that convicts and undertrials in terror cases, serious and sensitive cases and those held for involvement in organised crime are generally housed in these cells.
Named as Anda cell because of their oval shapes like an egg, these high security cells are a feature of almost all maximum security Central prisons across the country.
Officials say they are designed in such a way to keep the inmates separate and also give patrolling officers the maximum possible view of each of the inmates. The cell is detached from the rest of the prison premises and has its separate yard and other facilities thus completely separating the inmates housed in the cell from the rest of the prison population.
тАЬAmong various aspects, we are investigating the fact that the cell phones were not found in the initial sweep but in the second one conducted later. A forensic examination of the cell phones will be done and the probe will be based on its findings,тАЭ said a police officer.
