China-made drone found in high-security Bhopal Central Jail; probe on

A China-made drone has been found lying inside the high-security Bhopal Central Jail, prompting authorities to launch a probe into it, an official said on Thursday.

A guard near B-block building inside the prison spotted the black drone, which was charged and weighed 30 to 40 gm, between 3.30 pm and 4 pm on Wednesday, jail superintendent Rakesh Kumar Bangre told PTI.

No one saw the drone landing in the jail premises, he said, adding that prima facie it appears the unmanned aerial device might be of children who were playing with it near the prison.

The jail, spread over 151 acres, houses 3,600 prisoners against its capacity of 2,600, another official said.

These include 69 prisoners, including 32 associated with the banned outfit Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), who are lodged in a high-security zone of the jail, Bangre said.

“We have handed over the drone to the Gandhi Nagar police. They have launched an investigation into the recovery of the China-made drone which was charged,” he said.

Bhopal Commissioner of Police HC Mishra could not be contacted for more information in the matter.

The Bhopal Central Jail was in the news in November 2016, when eight undertrials associated with the SIMI killed a prison guard and escaped. They were killed by police after they opened fire on the security personnel on the outskirts of Bhopal.