Siddaramaiah government knew irregularities in Parappana Agrahara one year ago!
- The CAG in its report had clearly mentioned about rampant use of drugs and mobile phones in the central prisons
- It had complained of non-functioning metal detector and even the mobile jammer
- But the Congress government brushed the report under the carpet till they were again brought to light by IPS Roopa
FollowAfter former DIG (prisons) Roopa exposed the dark truth behind the long walls of Parappana Agrahara, the Siddaramaiah government initiated an inquiry into the serious allegations made by the IPS officer. But had Siddaramaiah taken this action one year before, perhaps, things would not have been this worse. For, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report submitted last year had clearly mentioned about the rampant use of drugs and mobiles by the prison inmates among other complaints. But instead of looking into the report, the Congress government reportedly slept through the report for the one whole year before Roopa exposing it again, reports Kannada Prabha.
The 2015 CAG report after conducting a study on all jails in the state, had mentioned that the officials had thrown the prison rules to the wind in many sections.The CAG report had expressed concerns about privileges enjoyed by some inmates in the jail. Like, there was no proper entry of timings of visitors at the log book this was an attempt by the authorities to cover up the special visitation timings enjoyed by some inmates.
Besides, despite the metal detector and baggage detector available, it was not put use properly at the Parappana Agrahara prisons as the government had failed to issue guidelines for their usage, reports Kannada Prabha.
Although it is required for the prison authorities to conduct a surprise inspections in the jail and also ensuring frequent inspections through the dog squad, no such initiatives were taken by the authorities. "Inspections were held at their whims and fancies," reports Kannada Prabha quoting CAG report. As against 768 mandatory dog inspections, the prison authorities had conducted a mere 138 inspections, and also only 130 surprise checks were done against the mandated number of 1248 inspections.
The report also points out the fact that most of the CCTV cameras installed in prison were not in working condition. The department had spent Rs 17.87 crore for the CCTVs. Not just that even the mobile jammers that were installed at the cost of Rs 28.28 crore was not functioning up to the mark. This allowed the inmates to use the mobile, secretly. Â
