KARNATAKA: Following the threatening audio message to the Chief Jail Superintendent of Kalaburagi District Prison, six prisoners, including a terror suspect, have been shifted to different jails across the state, sources said on Friday.
The Chief Jail Superintendent of Kalaburagi District Prison, R. Anita, had received a threatening audio message from an anonymous person warning that her car would be blown up with explosives.
The authorities have shifted Zulfikar Ali, a terror suspect involved in the 2013 bomb explosion case in Malleshwaram locality of Bengaluru. The prisoners were shifted to Belagavi, Dharwad, Shivamogga, Ballari and other district prisons in the state.
Sources confirmed that prisoners Bachchan, a rowdy sheeter from Shivamogga, Abdul Khader Jilani, Sheik Saddam Hussain, Zakir and Vishal are the others who have been shifted to jails.
The authorities stated that they had obtained permission from the court before their shifting. The probe had revealed that these prisoners were leading a royal life inside the prison in collusion with some jail staff. They were also blackmailing the officers by taking their videos.
Police said the threatening message was sent as an audio recording to a police inspector in Kalaburagi on his mobile phone. The information was subsequently passed on to Anita. In response, her official vehicle has been parked under continuous CCTV monitoring.
Recently, reports of certain prisoners receiving preferential treatment at Kalaburagi Prison surfaced, prompting an inspection by senior officers, including the ADGP Prisons. Since assuming charge one and a half months ago, Anita has implemented strict measures to halt such practices, including a ban on the sale of gutka, beedis, and cigarettes inside the prison premises.
These reforms faced resistance from inmates, with undertrials and prisoners staging protests against the new regulations. Despite the opposition, Anita remained firm and refused to relax the measures. She also ended the preferential treatment previously afforded to influential prisoners.
It is suspected that the threatening message may have been orchestrated by disgruntled inmates unhappy with these strict measures.
Police are tracking the origin of the message and the probe was on. It is suspected that the threat is linked to Anita’s recent efforts to curb illegal activities within the prison. The incident had raised a concern among prison staff.