An undertrial prisoner at Tihar Jail has accused the prison staff of "using him" to the pass around mobile phones to other inmates. The prison officials, however, have refuted the allegation.
In a video circulated on social media, the prisoner claimed that he "followed orders from officials" so that he too could make calls while he remains inside the jail.
However, the jail officials refuted the allegation and said that they had in fact caught the undertrial while he was passing the mobile phone to another inmate.
"The inmate is lodged in jail number 1. He is a habitual criminal with cases of robbery and other offences against him. He has been in and out of jail many times," a senior jail official said.
"Sometime back, the jail staff had foiled an attempted smuggling of phones into the jail. The CCTV footage had revealed involvement of the same undertrial. Appropriate action is being taken against him as per the jail manual," Director General (Tihar) Sandeep Goel said.
Officials alleged that the inmate made the video to put counter pressure on jail staff and for his vested interests. Action will be taken against him for this act as well as for the possession of a mobile phone, which is a prohibited item inside the jail premises, they said.
"In the video, the inmate can be seen leveling allegations against some jail officials which are baseless. One phone has been recovered from his possession and search is on to recover the other phones too. We are trying to find out from where he has procured the phones. We are also trying to ascertain if any staff was involved," the officer said.
