The Hindu : Front Page : 62 phones seized from prisoners since January

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Thursday, Apr 02, 2009
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62 phones seized from prisoners since January

L. Srikrishna and S. Vijay Kumar

Mobile phone detectors given to prisons in State
Phones being charged with help of prison staff

MADURAI: Alert jail warders seized a ringing mobile phone from the cell of a life convict in the Madurai central prison early on Wednesday. A case was registered against the accused.

This is not the first time a mobile phone was seized from a highly guarded prison of Tamil Nadu. At least 62 mobile phone instruments activated with pre-paid and post-paid numbers were seized in prisons across the State since January.

Last week, three SIM cards were seized from a visitor who had intended to meet a life convict in Madurai central prison. K. Muthukumar of Anuppanadi, when searched, had concealed the three SIM cards inside bananas.Police sources said Muthukumar had confessed during interrogation that he had planned to hand over the SIM cards to the life convict identified as Deivam. A close watch on the activities of the prisoners revealed that many convicts had access to mobile phones. Either the convicts had their own phones or used mobile phones offered by some prison employees. To charge their mobile phones, some of the inmates took help from the prison staff.

Director General of Prisons R. Natraj said in Chennai that mobile phone detectors purchased at a cost of Rs. 1.5 lakh each were given to all central prisons in the State. “The mobile phone seized in Madurai was with the help of this detector.”

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