TP Case: Probe Team Finds Fault with Viyyur Prison Staff

THRISSUR:  A high-level investigation conducted by the state Home Department in connection  with the seizure of cell phones from the custody of TP murder convicts lodged in  Viyyur Central Prison here has found the jail officials ‘guilty of negligence in ensuring the routine discipline inside the jail’.

The report, prepared by DIG of Prisons (Central Zone) K Radhakrishnan and submitted to the Director General of Police (Prison) T P Senkumar, has recommended action against six jail officers who were on duty during the time of the incident, said sources in the department.

Based on the report, Senkumar has issued showcause notices to the six officials as to why action should not be taken against them for the incidents and security lapse in the jail.Sources said that report found that cell phone can be used only with the tacit approval of the staff as it was evident from the call list and duration of conversation held between the convicts and people outside the jail. The duration of calls often crossed 30 minutes and this is not possible in jail without the knowledge of jail staff, they said.

Besides, there were clear security lapses when the convicts were brought to jail each time after court proceedings and other occasions during which, the cell phones were smuggled into the jail. The convicts were neither  properly frisked nor conducted mandatory physical check-up, the report said.

The sources also said the final action would be taken against the officials after receiving the report of the police, who are also conducting an investigation into the case. The police also have more or less the same opinion of the Prison Department. They found that apart from TP murder convicts, the accused in Perinjanam murder lodged in Viyyur jail had called their friends, relatives, and political leaders from the cell phones seized from the jail.

The police have received evidence to confirm the role of convicts in the Perinjanam murder case, in which eight people, including two CPM workers and a local committee secretary of CPM, were arrested in connection with the murder of a 40 year-old person on March 2 at Kaipamangalam here.

In all, the prisoners had made over 2,000 calls from the jail in a short span of time, said P Abdul Muneer, the Circle Inspector in charge of investigation.   

The Viyyur Prison authorities had recovered as many as eight mobile phones, SIM card and a few electronic gadgets from the jail in around half a dozen raids following the recovery of a SIM card from the mat of TP murder convict Annan Sijith. Following this, the jail authorities have shifted the TP murder convicts to Thriuvananthapuram Central Prison.

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