Simultaneous raids were conducted in jails across Jharkhand on Monday morning leading to recovery of several items from jail premises illegally, police said. The raids were conducted as per the direction of the State Home department as part of assessing law and order situation on the jail premises. The raids were conducted at Central jails and district jails across the State.
At Hotwar Central Jail, the raids were carried out by Ranchi Deputy Commissioner (DC), Ray Mahimapat Rai and Ranchi SSP Anish Gupta, while in districts the raids were conducted by respective SPs and other senior police officials.
Khunti SP Alok said, “During the raids the police seized handmade knives, scissors’, Rs 2800 in cash and a CD. The police have seized all the objectionable items seized from jail premises and ordered for an investigation. The police are yet to discover what is stored in the CDs.” In Khunti, the raids were lead by SP Khunti and DSPs rank officials.
In Simdega district jail the raids were conducted by Simdega SP Sanjeev Kumar and was assisted by DSPs, inspectors rank officials. Simdega SP said, “The police during the raids seized handmade knives, blade, syringe without needles and other objectionable items. The jail officials have been asked to prepare a report in this connection.” The police also searched the prisoners’ van meant for carrying prisoners from jail to court at the time of their production before the judge or magistrates. The van was searched to assess whether security norms are followed during production of under trails from prison to court.
The SP claimed that at Simdega district jail, the jail authorities follow all the security norms. The jail has three layer security along with watch towers and CCTV cameras installed at the jail premises.
Raids were also conducted in Garhwa jail. SP Garhwa, Shivani Tewari said, “As the raids were conducted across the state, the Garhwa police also conducted raids at Garhwa jail. No objectionable items were recovered from jail premises but we have ordered the jail officials to prepare a report in this connection.” In Garhwa the police also quizzed some hardcore criminals languishing in the district jail. The Garhwa SP claimed that it was routine exercise assessing the law and order situation in jails.
According to a police source, Monday's raid was to follow up on investigations indicating that some of the thefts and snatchings were masterminded from the jail. Also several notorious criminals and hardcore Left Wing Extremist (LWE) are lodged at jails across the State.