Chennai: A police team conducted raid at Puzhal Central Prison here early this morning to find out if inmates were in possession of banned materials such as mobile phones or ganja.
According to a source, the search began at 6 am and went on for three hours. The team of 80 police personnel was led by Assistant Commissioner Venkatesh.
The source said, the premises of Puzhal One, Two and Three were searched by the team. The prison currently houses more than 1,000 inmates. The policemen found a smart mobile phone abandoned in the campus and it was taken away by officials for examination.
It is suspected that an inmate must have thrown away the phone fearing the raids. The police did not find anything else, however the raids are excepted to happen often.
Speaking to ‘News Today‘, Venkatesh said, “we were searching for items like phone or ganja which were allegedly being smuggled in and we found the phone.”
Speaking about how the department was planning to tackle inmates getting access to these things, he said, An inquiry is underway. We are putting preventive measures at Puzhal prison.
Recently, a series of pictures showing some inmates of the high security cell at Puzhal premises leading a luxurious life created a controversy.
Following this, television and radio facilities were taken away from the prisons. Venkatesh said, the inmates still do not have the entertainment perks. The department has not decided on giving it back to them as of now.