Dance, Drinks, Drama: More Lapses Emerge At Bengaluru Central Jail

There appears to be no end to security lapses at the Bengaluru Central Jail. In more trouble for the jail authorities, a video has now emerged showing inmates dancing and partying with liquor and snacks, merely a few hours after the government pulled up officials for allowing VVIP treatment inside the jail.

The latest visuals showed liquor in disposable glasses, cut fruits, and fried peanuts—fine arrangements for a party inside the jail. In another video, four small liquor bottles were seen arranged neatly, while some inmates danced to the sounds of utensils being banged by other inmates. NDTV cannot independently verify the visuals.

This raises big questions over the security arrangements inside the prison that had already been in the news after notorious criminals kept there—an ISIS recruiter and a serial rapist-killer—were seen using phones and watching television.

In the videos that emerged yesterday, Zuhaib Hameed Shakeel Manna, an ISIS recruiter, was seen scrolling on a phone and enjoying tea while a radio or a television was heard in the background. According to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), he raised funds, radicalised Muslim youth and illegally sent them to Syria to join ISIS.

Another video showed Umesh Reddy, named in 18 rape and murder cases, using his two Android phones and a keypad mobile. A television was kept in his barracks. In 2022, his death sentence was commuted to 30 years of imprisonment by the Supreme Court as he sought clemency, claiming to be mentally ill. He was later declared medically sound.

Besides Manna and Reddy, pictures of another inmate, Tarun Raju, showed him using a phone and cooking inside the jail. Raju was arrested in the Ranya Rao gold smuggling case while trying to flee to Geneva and later identified as the mastermind of a smuggling network that allegedly supplied gold in Dubai to the daughter of an IPS officer.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah assured necessary action, and the Prisons Department also opened an inquiry into yesterday's videos.

This morning, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara warned of strict action against jail officials and said he will not tolerate such lapses. "I will not tolerate this nonsense. Enough is enough. This kind of incident shouldn't happen. It is said that there are fewer staff. But at least the existing staff should do proper work. It is not an excuse," he said.