The officials of the Presidency Jail seized a cellphone from Syed Abu Nasser, an ISI agent, on Friday.
Nasser, who has several cases against him in Delhi and Kolkata, is kept in a special cell number 10 of the jail. Around 2 pm, one of the jail guards, Kamal Mondol, noticed him entering a godown, when he was allowed to go out of his cell as part of the schedule. The guard alerted the jail officers who then caught him red handed with the cellphone.
“It was a Nokia 1100 and we have recovered a SIM card. We are trying to trace the numbers listed in the dialled and received calls. Since he is a high-profile criminal, we are looking into the matter. Following this incident more raids will be conducted inside the jail,” said a senior officer of Presidency jail.
Alarmed at the developments, jail authorities are mulling the installation of metal frame detectors at jail gates and extra security cover with the help of police.
The jail authorities have informed Delhi and Kolkata courts about the incident.
This is not the first time that a cellphone has been recovered from a prisoner’s possession. In the past two weeks, seven cellphones have been recovered from the two highly secured jails of the state, four from Presidency central jail and three from Alipur central jail, thus making a mockery of the jail security.
According to the sources, high-profile criminals operate with the hidden cellphones inside the jails.
“This is a serious problem and we are tightening the security. I have also ordered strict checking, even of senior jail officers at the gates and round-the-clock vigil over the inmates,” said jail IG, B D Sharma.
“More guards will be deployed for physical frisking of inmates while they come back from the court. A fresh security cordon will be set up with the help of police,” said Sharma.