COIMBATORE: A year after the prisons department wrote to the police department insisting that they should file cases and investigate how inmates of Coimbatore Central Prison got access to mobile phones, Coimbatore police on Thursday registered seven cases.
Seizure of prohibited items from prison inmates is punishable as per the Prisons Act - Section 45 (12) (Prison Offences- receiving, possessing or transferring any prohibited article). Based on this provision, the prison authorities can give punishments such as reducing facilities to the prisoners. But confiscation of mobile phones is a serious matter.
“If inmates get access to mobile phones, they can hatch a conspiracy and be indirectly involved in crimes outside the prison. Especially if mobile phones are confiscated from persons with a background of terrorist and banned organizations, they should be investigated thoroughly. But the prison department does not have the technical facilities or manpower for that. If we find mobile phones, we immediately file a complaint with the police. Detailed investigation from the police department is the only way to prevent crimes,” said an official from the prison department.
Sources said that despite lodging several complaints of mobile phone seizures in the last one year, Coimbatore city police delayed registering FIR. In turn, the prison department was told to take action as per the Prisons Act.
Explaining the difficulties, a senior prison officer said there are practical difficulties in filing the case directly in court. “If we directly file a case in court, we will have to pursue it till the end. We are not technically equipped to examine mobile phone records to prove the seriousness of the case. Also, if the prisoner concerned is released, it will be very difficult for us to continue the case. But all these can be done easily by the police,” he said.
But persistent follow-up and a spurt in crime rate has nudged police into action. On Thursday, Racecourse police registered seven cases regarding complaints made in the last one year and started an investigation.
According to police, the mobile phone seizures happened between January 2022 and January 2023. All seven cases have been booked under the provisions of the Prison Act and the IPC section 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty).
A top police officer told TNIE that a few judicial officers refused to take them for hearing when police registered cases. “They questioned why the police should register a separate case when there is an Act for Prisons department. Hence we avoid registering cases for the last few months. But after prison officials explained the difficulties, we started filing cases considering the importance of police investigation,” the officer said.
A COSTLY MISS ?
One among the seven cases registered is against five people including Al-Umma leader Basha and his brother Nawab Khan who have been spending life behind the bars in connection with the 1998 Coimbatore serial bomb blast. On June 18, 2022, the prison officer seized mobile phones from them. Nawab Khan’s son Muhammad Talha was arrested in October 2022, for his alleged role in the car blast that happened on October 23, 2022, at Kottaimedu.