Bengaluru Jail Inmates Seen Using Mobile Phones, TV, 3 Staffers Suspended

A fresh controversy has erupted after a video allegedly showing inmates inside Bengaluru's Parappana Agrahara Central Prison accessing mobile phones and watching television surfaced online.

The footage, now widely circulated on social media, appears to show prisoners enjoying what many are calling "luxury-like" facilities within the jail premises. Inmates can be seen using mobile phones, watching television and even accessing streaming platforms such as Netflix. In one part of the video, a group of inmates is heard casually discussing an upcoming Indian Premier League match, with one confidently remarking that "this time the cup is ours".

Sources indicate that the video was recorded on March 27 by inmates who have been lodged in the prison for over two-and-a-half years in connection with a murder case. Investigators suspect that the footage was covertly shared with contacts outside the jail, leading to its rapid circulation in the public domain.

Preliminary findings suggest that mobile phones were concealed in an underground pipeline area near the toilet block, allowing inmates to evade routine checks. The method points to a possible pattern of organised concealment rather than an isolated breach.

Officials have also raised concerns about potential collusion at the ground staff level, with suspicions that internal involvement may have enabled the breach. At the same time, another angle being probed is whether the incident is part of a deliberate attempt to tarnish the image of the Alok Kumar, Director General of Police (Prisons and Correctional Services).

Authorities were quick to underline that strict measures have been implemented in recent months to clamp down on illegal activities inside jails. The emergence of the video, officials suggest, could be an attempt to undermine these efforts.

Following the incident, the mobile phones seen in the video have been seized, and an FIR has been registered. A detailed investigation is now underway to determine the extent of the breach, identify those responsible, and examine whether there was any internal complicity behind the incident.

Three wardens of the jail have been suspended for alleged dereliction of duty. The suspended personnel have been identified as Shivanand Karalabatti, Niranjan A Kamat and Hanumanthappa Hadapad.