Post News Network
Cuttack, Sept 3: A Commissionerate Police team raided Choudwar jail Thursday and seized a cache of banned material from several jail cells.
The raid came on the basis of tip-offs from sources that criminal activity was going on unchecked inside the jail. Police seized 250 grams of ganja, several packets of bidi, two LED television sets and music systems as well as some sharp-edged weapons in the course of the raid.
The police team was headed by DCP Sanjeev Arora. Commissioner RP Sharma had recently said there was strong reason to believe that recent crimes in Cuttack were masterminded by some inmates of the Choudwar jail.
A recent bomb attack at the house of OCA secretary Asirbad Behera and the murder of Malgodown trader Farooq Tayeb Ahmed were reportedly planned from inside the jail, sources said.
“Several criminal activities in Cuttack and nearby areas directly or indirectly traced their way back to Choudwar jail. The planning was all done inside the jail,” Arora said, adding the role of jail officials would also be probed.
This is not the first time that a police raid has been done at the jail. Choudwar jail has been raided five times in the past, with several illegal things including weapons being recovered from inmates.
Choudwar jailor Niranjan Das said they are probing the presence of ganja and cigarette inside the jail. He denied the involvement of jail personnel and said the authorities had provided an LED TV for jail inmates, which is in keeping with jail rules.