BANGALORE: No matter how hard the officials at Parappana Agrahara central prison try to block inmates getting access to illegal drugs like ganja, the visitors outsmart the jail authorities and find a way to supply such products to the inmates.
The latest has been smuggling of contraband items in sanitary napkins.
This came to light when the jail staff caught two girls who were trying to pass on ganja to inmates of the jail by concealing it in sanitary napkins in their under garments recently.
“The two were caught by the lady police while frisking at the jail gate.
We got suspicious and trapped them after a proper check.
However, we did not book any case against them,” Jayaramaiah S H, jailor at the Bangalore Central Jail said.
However, when questioned about why the girls were let off without booking a case, T H Lakshminarayana, chief superintendent of Parappana Agrahara said, “We let them off on ‘humanitarian’ grounds.
We cannot book cases for ‘small’ offences.
If they were involved in carrying large quantities, we would have definitely taken action,” he added.
According to the Section 20(b) in The Narcotic Drugs And Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, possession of drugs (ganja) is itself an offence.
Such activities have been carried on in the jail premises for the past few years.
According to a jail official, at times there are chances that the officials are abetting the crime and it becomes difficult to trap such cases.
In February 2009, the state High Court ordered the jail authorities to take suitable action against staff who are abetting illegal trade of ganja and other items inside the prison.
Narrating an incident, Lakshminarayana said, “Three months ago, we found a similar case where a 10-year-old was caught carrying ganja.
She might have been unaware of what she was doing and was probably forced by her parents to carry the substance.
After this incident, we have tightened the security and our officials are now more alert, so the culprits cannot get away easily.”
WHAT THE RULE SAYS
* Jail manual says: Possessing, hiding, smuggling, attempting to smuggle, obtaining, giving or receiving and bartering contraband articles, by prisoners shall constitute prison offence.
*According to American Council for Drug Education, Marijuana is, by far, the world’s most commonly used illicit drug, which causes impaired perception and diminished short-term memory