Faridkot jail inmates booked for extortion attempt

Faridkot, August 22

Advertisement

The phone calls made to the family of an inmate of the Faridkot Central Jail have unravelled another story of crime from behind the bars.

Phone use rampant

In the last two months, the Faridkot Central Jail authorities have recovered about 100 cellphones. An Assistant Jail Superintendent was also held for supplying cellphones and drugs into the prison.

In these calls, allegedly made by two persons lodged in the jail to the family of another inmate, there was a demand for money with a threat of violence and death.

Bhupinder Singh, a young inmate in the jail here, made a complaint to the jail authorities that his family members were getting threatening phone calls. The callers were threatening his family with violence against him in the jail if money was not paid to them.

On questioning, Bhupinder raised his suspicion on two inmates — Manjit Singh and Balwinder Singh. The search of these suspects led to the recovery of a mobile phone from them.

DSP Jasmeet Singh said the police had registered a criminal case under Sections 42/52 of the Jail Act against Manjit and Balwinder on the basis of a complaint received from the jail authorities.

“We are taking both these accused on production warrants for questioning and also checking the call records of the seized mobile phone for further action,” said the DSP.

Sources in the jail claimed threat calls were common. Family members of many inmates were also made to pay for ‘debts’ that inmates incurred behind the bars for drugs and making phone calls. They said extortion calls were usually made to the families of young inmates who landed in jail for the first time. Fearing harm, such families ended up paying for the safety of their loved one.

Besides this practice, the incident has once again exposed the fact that the use mobile phones in jail here is common.