Police personnel led by the Superintendent of Police of Vellore I Eswaran, during a surprise raid in the Vellore Central Prison for Men, seized a cache of banned gadgets and contrabands and `1.38 lakh cash on Saturday.
Sources in the police and prison departments said that the 3 teams under DSPs Dakshinamoorthy (Vellore), Manivannan (Katpadi) and S Seetharaman (Arakkonam), comprising six Inspectors, 12 Sub-Inspectors and 50 constables, led by the SP I Eswaran, during their 3-hour raid, seized 12 items. They confiscated five mobile phones, six SIM cards, one mobile charger, five tablet connectors, two head phones, one memory card, 20 grams of ganja, 8 ganja pipes, 33 packets of cigarette, 21 packets of beedi, 3 sachets of Hans and 24 cigarette lighters. The teams also seized Rs 1,38,135 cash from the cells of the convicts, said the sources.
“The teams checked every cell in the prison from 6.10 in the morning. The raid continued for nearly three hours. We seized Rs 1.38 lakh cash, mobile phones, tablet connectors and contrabands,” said Eswaran.
A team led by DSP Manivannan raided the closed prison I and III where high risk prisoners were lodged. DSP Dakshinamoorthy led team that searched the convicts’ blocks, while the team under DSP Seetharaman searched the remanded prisoners’ block. The raid commenced after the inmates were taken out of their respective cells and confined to the open space on the courtyard.
The sources said that the department would submit a report and the seized items to the Superintendent of the Prison N Arivudainambe. Subsequently, Jailer Thamarai Selvam would lodge a complaint with Police. The seized amount would be deposited in the State’s account in District Treasury Office, the sources added.