ISIS Recruiter, Rapist, Criminals Seen Using Phones, Watching TV Inside Bengaluru Jail

Allegations of major security lapses and preferential treatment at Bengaluru's Parappana Agrahara Central jail have surfaced after videos showed notorious inmates, including an ISIS recruiter and a serial rapist and killer, using mobile phones and watching television.

In a video, Zuhaib Hameed Shakeel Manna, an alleged ISIS recruiter, was seen using a phone inside the prison. 

Zuhaib Manna can be seen scrolling on his phone, with either a TV or a radio blaring in the background. He is seen talking to someone and enjoying his tea, shows the video.

According to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Zuhaib Manna, along with other conspirators, raised funds, radicalised Mulsim youth through Quran Circle Group and recruited them and illegally sent them to Syria via Turkey to join ISIS.

"Zuhaib Manna had used his contacts to motivate and radicalise many impressionable Muslim youth by showing them videos depicting atrocities against Muslims in Syria," said the NIA. 

In another clip, Umesh Reddy, who is accused in over 18 cases of rape and murder, is seen using two Android phones and one keypad mobile inside the jail - which the jail staff allegedly is aware of. A TV set can be seen in his barracks.

Reddy's death sentence was commuted by the Supreme Court to 30 years of imprisonment without remission in 2022. He was initially sentenced to death but later sought clemency, claiming to be mentally ill. Medical examinations, however, had confirmed he was mentally sound.

Pictures of Tarun Raju, arrested in connection with the Ranya Rao gold smuggling case, also surfaced, in which he can be seen using a phone and cooking inside the jail.

Tarun was arrested while trying to flee to Geneva. He was identified as the mastermind of a gold smuggling network that allegedly supplied gold in Dubai to Ranya Rao - the daughter of a senior IPS officer.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah assured to investigate the incidents and initiate necessary action.

The Prisons Department has launched an inquiry.

As per the orders of the Director General of Prisons, ADGP (Prisons) PV Anand Reddy visited the Parappana Agrahara jail and conducted an on-site inspection.

Several inmates, prison officials, and staff were questioned about the leaked visuals.

Preliminary findings indicate that the videos, reportedly from 2023 and 2025, show inmates holding mobile phones and sitting in the barrack premises. 

Authorities are now investigating how mobile phones entered the high-security jail, who provided them, when the videos were recorded, and who leaked them to the media.

The Chief Superintendent of the Central Prison has been directed to file separate complaints at the Parappana Agrahara Police Station and initiate legal action against all those involved.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Inspector General of Prisons (South Zone) has been asked to conduct a departmental inquiry and submit a report.