Bengaluru: Purported videos showing serious lapses within the Parappana Agrahara Central Jail in Karnataka's Bengaluru. In one of the viral videos, dreaded criminals, including Umesh Reddy, a serial rapist and murderer, could be seen using mobile phones.
Notably, Reddy was convicted for raping 20 women and murdering 18 of them between 1996 to 2022, reported NDTV. The purported video shows Reddy using two Android phones and watching television inside the jail.
He was also seen using a mobile phone with a keypad. In 2022, Reddy's death sentence was commuted by the Supreme Court to 30 years of imprisonment without remission.
In the pictures accessed by NDTV, Tarun Raju, an accused in the Ranya Rao gold smuggling case, could be seen using a mobile phone and cooking food in jail. Raju is allegedly a mastermind in the gold smuggling case involving Kannada actress Ranya Rao, the stepdaughter of DGP Ramchandra Rao.
According to the report, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah promised to probe the alleged lapse in the jail.
Last year, a video of Kannada actor Darshan smoking a cigarette and drinking coffee inside the Bengaluru Central Prison. For the unversed, Darshan is accused of the kidnapping and murder of his fan Renukaswamy. The development had stirred a controversy in the state, raising questions on the functioning and rampant corruption in the prisons department. After the video surfaced online, Darshan was shifted to Bellary jail, and the seven prison officials were also suspended.
Notably, the Supreme Court had directed authorities not to provide special privileges or facilities to any prisoner.
