Behind drugs, phone supply in Ludhiana jails, a well oiled nexus of jail staff, guards, inmates

A series of recent FIRs have exposed an alleged nexus wherein prison staff have been found allegedly accepting money from prisoners or their families to allow inmates to smuggle drugs, mobile phones and other prohibited items into Ludhiana Central Jail and Borstal Jail.

In four such cases, 22 people have been booked, including 17 inmates, two jail superintendents, two security guards and a warder. The cases point to alleged collusion at multiple levels, with inmates’ statements, recoveries of contraband and mobile phones, and an alleged admission by a contractual jail guard forming part of the investigation.

Inquiry reports have also been submitted to the Punjab ADGP (Prisons).

At Borstal Jail, which houses inmates aged 18 to 21, statements by four prisoners led police to book assistant superintendent Harminder Singh and warder Baljit Singh for allegedly supplying drugs, mobile phones and other prohibited items in exchange for money.

The FIR, registered on September 15 at Division Number 7 police station, named inmates Jatin, Sahil, Abhishek and Lovepreet along with the two officials under Section 48(iii) of the Punjab Prisons and Correctional Services Act.

In an inquiry report cited in the FIR, Borstal Jail Deputy Superintendent Jagjit Singh said the four inmates had disclosed that Harminder and Baljit “supplied them with phones, drugs and other banned items and took money in return”.

“They would provide phones to inmates during night hours and using those phones, inmates clicked their photos and sent them to their accomplices outside to make them viral so that the jail’s image and reputation could be tarnished,” says the inquiry report as cited in the FIR.

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It adds that Baljit continued to operate the racket at Borstal Jail even after his transfer to Ropar Jail in July this year.

Borstal Jail Superintendent Gurpreet Singh said Harminder was already under suspension in another case. “The role of other jail staffers is a matter of investigation,” he said.

Inspector Gagandeep Singh, SHO of Division Number 7 police station, said Baljit had been arrested.

In a separate case at Ludhiana Central Jail, the recovery of 86 grams of opium from inmates’ barracks on October 4 led investigators to a suspected supply chain involving prisoners and jail staff.

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An FIR under the NDPS Act and the Punjab Prisons and Correctional Services Act initially named seven inmates — Satnam Singh alias Shama, Mukesh Kumar, Sagardeep Singh, Pardeep Kumar, Lakhwinder Singh, Sonu Chaurasia and Ajay Kumar. Police also reported recovering four mobile phones and two SIM cards.

According to the FIR, questioning the inmates led police to two other prisoners — Mandeep Singh and Gurbax Singh, lodged in separate barracks. Both, originally from Ferozepur, allegedly ran a drug supply network inside the jail and collected payments from other inmates through Google Pay to arrange supplies from outside.

The investigation subsequently led to the arrest of contractual jail security guard Pritpal Singh and assistant superintendent Rishab Goyal.

SHO Gagandeep Singh said that another FIR, dated October 7, was registered against Pritpal Singh of Mansa, a contractual jail guard hired under the Punjab Ex-Servicemen Corporation (PESCO), after inmates revealed that he “supplies drugs inside jail during duty hours.”

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“Pritpal admitted that he along with inmates was supplying drugs inside jail,” according to the FIR.’

Police also recovered 170 grams of intoxicant powder in several packets from the guard’s room. The investigation subsequently led to Rishab’s arrest, the SHO said.

A separate investigation into the recovery of intoxicant capsules from barracks at Borstal Jail allegedly uncovered another link between inmates and a contractual security guard.

According to the FIR, registered at Division Number 7 police station, inmates Surjit Kumar and Simron Singh were allegedly running a drug supply network in connivance with PESCO guard Muhammad Arbaaz, who was also booked and arrested.

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The FIR names Mandeep Singh, Surjit Kumar, Tuna Kumar and Simron Singh among the accused inmates.

Borstal Jail Superintendent Gurpreet Singh said PESCO guards were hired on a contractual basis and their services were terminated immediately when such cases came to light. “PESCO guards are not our regular employees,” he said.