Bhubaneswar: The tall claims of the state prison authorities notwithstanding, trafficking of illegal substances and narcotics continue unabated making a mockery of the security checking at the entry and exit points of the jails in the state.
Confidential departmental letters reveal that substances like ganja and brown sugar are regularly smuggled into the jails across the state.
The fact that the prison inmates are availing such substances easily raises questions not only about the security of the jails, but also about the connivance of the jail staff.
Recently, a huge quantity of contraband ganja was seized from inside the Jharpada special jail. A bag containing the contraband item was found behind the Administrative block in the special jail in February.
However, the jail authorities succeeded in keeping the matter away from the media glare fearing backlash.
Sources revealed to Orissa POST that the DG (Prisons and Correctional Services), Santosh Kumar Upadhyaya, Monday directed the Superintendent of the Jharpada jail to initiate a probe into the matter.
Upadhyaya has also directed the IIC of the Laxmisagar police, under whose jurisdiction the jail falls, to investigate the matter and identify the person responsible for the trafficking of ganja into the jail.
Meanwhile, when questioned about the development, Jharpada jail authorities claimed that someone might have thrown the bag containing ganja into the prison premises.
It is difficult to accept the clarification offered by the authorities, even with a pinch of salt, in view the high boundary walls around the jail.
Earlier, in 2020, viral videos of illegal brown sugar trade inside the Khurda and Jharpada prisons had sparked a major controversy. It is common knowledge that it is not possible to take or bring any material into or outside the jail without undergoing strict security check.
Hence, when ganja and other narcotics are found in the prison cells, there is little doubt that they were trafficked with the help of some unscrupulous jail employees.
DG (Prisons and Correctional Services), Santosh Kumar Upadhyaya’s directive to the IIC of Laxmisagar police to probe the matter has raised many eyebrows, as the police rarely conduct raids inside the jails in their locality.
PNN