15 mobiles, dongle seized from Ludhiana jail

A surprise checking conducted in the Central Jail, Ludhiana, by staff led to the seizure of 15 mobile phones and one Wi-Fi dongle from inmates.

As per information, Assistant Superintendent (Jail) Rajeev Kumar conducted a surprise checking in various blocks of the jail in which different barracks and bathrooms were also searched. During the checking, the officials found 15 mobile phones and a Wi-Fi dongle as well. Of these, seven mobile phones were seized from six inmates, Arjun Bhatti, Mohd Afzal, Kamaljit Singh, Sharanjit Singh, Dhananjay, alias Deepu, and Aniket. A case was registered against them and further investigation was launched in the matter.

Eight mobile phones and a Wi-Fi dongal were found lying abandoned on the jail premises by the jail staff. It was being suspected that inmates who might be possessing the banned items abandoned the same on the premises to prevent them from being caught during the surprise checking. A separate case against unidentified inmates was registered.

After the recovery, the Ludhiana police had also started a probe to find out with whom the suspects were in contact through the mobiles and the dongle and in whose name were the SIMs found in the mobiles being used. The officials said recovery of a dongle was a serious matter and there was suspicion that they might be in touch with some gangsters or criminals. Angle of making extortion calls from jail is also being probed.

Jail Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar had also inspected the jail on Tuesday and had given strict orders to the administration to keep conducting checking campaigns in the prisons every day. He had also listened to grievances of undertrials.