BENGALURU: A ‘foreign body’ found in the stomach of an undertrial prisoner is likely to jeopardise the careers of three young jail warders at the Bengaluru Central Prison.
All was well for jail warders Ravindranath K Hugara (28), Anand Kadakol (27) and Dorenaik PR (27) till Rehman Khan, the undertrial, entered the prison. When Khan complained of severe stomach pain on September 10, 2023, the doctors at the prison suspected the presence of some ‘foreign body’ in his abdomen.
Khan was treated as an inpatient in Victoria Hospital from September 10 to 16 when the doctors there removed a 10”x5” packet from his stomach and handed it over to the prison officials.
When they opened the packet, the officials were surprised to see three mobile phones, three earphones and four charging cables. Subsequently, a complaint was lodged with Parappana Agrahara police against Khan.
During investigation, the role of prison staff in helping the undertrial prisoner was suspected. Hence, fearing action against them, the three jail warders recently approached the 55th Additional City Civil and Sessions Court for anticipatory bail. In their petition, they claimed that they are aspiring for the posts of police sub-inspector and have been making preparations for the same. Their careers will be affected if they are arrested in the case, they stated.
The jail warders contended that they are innocent and have not committed any offence. They have nothing to do with the ‘foreign body’ found in the stomach of the undertrial prisoner. When the undertrial was brought to the central prison, he underwent three stages of frisking/checking, but nothing was found, they claimed.
Challenging the anticipatory bail petition, the public prosecutor contended that if the jail warders get bail, they may hamper prosecution witnesses as there is a prima facie case against them.
Judge Shriram Narayan Hegde, said, “I have gone through the material available on record... There are no criminal antecedents and the petitioners’ names are not mentioned either in the complaint or in the First Information Report. They are ready to abide by the conditions that may be imposed by this court. Under such circumstances, reasonable conditions will meet the objection of the prosecution.”
Allowing their petition on February 28, the court granted anticipatory bail to them on certain conditions.