BENGALURU: Yet another video from Bengaluru Central Prison has surfaced on social media, deepening the ongoing controversy over illegal activities inside the high-security facility. The new clip, allegedly recorded inside the Parappana Agrahara jail, shows inmates partying, dancing, and drinking liquor and consuming non-vegetarian food while using plates and mugs as makeshift musical instruments according to news agency PTI.
The video which went viral on Sunday shows disposable glasses filled with alcohol arranged alongside plates of cut fruits and fried peanuts. Inmates can be seen cheering, shouting, and dancing to the clanging of utensils, turning the barrack into what appears to be a party zone.The emergence of this new footage comes close on the heels of earlier videos showing high-profile inmates, including serial rapist Umesh Reddy and Islamic State (IS) handler Juhad Hamid Shakil Manna, using mobile phones and watching television inside the same prison. Those videos — some recorded as far back as 2023 — had triggered a massive row, exposing lapses in jail surveillance and control.Reacting to the fresh video, home minister G Parameshwara said the government would take “stringent action against officials, including jail superintendents” for the repeated lapses inside Bengaluru Central Prison. “If the report is not satisfactory, I will constitute a committee to investigate the matter. We will take action against the officials concerned and implement corrective measures to prevent such incidents in the future. I will not tolerate this nonsense — enough is enough,” Parameshwara said.He added that the state government had already approved the installation of CCTVs and mobile jammers in prisons to prevent such violations, but the measures were not fully implemented. “Despite repeated incidents from Parappana Agrahara jail, the problem persists. Though mobile jammers and CCTVs have been approved for installation to prevent such violations, the prisons have failed to implement them,” he said.Officials from the prison department said ADGP (Prisons) B Dayananda has ordered a high-level probe to identify the source of the leaked videos, those responsible for smuggling phones and liquor inside, and any officials complicit in the racket. Additional inspector general of police (prisons) PV Anand Reddy also visited the jail premises to assess the situation.A senior prison officer described the incident as a “major security breach,” warning that the use of mobile phones by terror suspects could allow them to contact handlers of banned outfits or radicalise other inmates.The Bengaluru Central Prison has frequently been in the spotlight for misconduct — from actor Darshan Thoogudeepa allegedly being allowed to use phones and smoke on the lawn, to gold smuggling case accused Ranya Rao’s associate Tarun Raju being filmed with a mobile phone earlier this year.
