Bengaluru, Dec 4 The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has visited Bengaluru Central Prison to investigate the case of a suspected ISIS terrorist using a mobile phone inside the prison, sources confirmed on Thursday.
A shocking video from Bengaluru's Parappana Agrahara Central Jail had gone viral in November, showing a prisoner, reportedly an ISIS terrorist and rapist, using a mobile phone and watching television.
Suspected terrorist Zuhab Hameed Shakeel Manna, jailed for raising funds for ISIS, was seen using a smartphone and enjoying five-star luxury in Bengaluru's Central jail.
NIA sleuths are interrogating Manna on his network and the people, whom he was in touch with. They are also investigating the staff of the central jail regarding providing facilities to a suspected terrorist attached to a global terror outfit such as ISIS.
According to sources, this is the second visit by the NIA sleuths to the Bengaluru Central Jail. More details are yet to emerge regarding the development.
Manna was arrested in Dubai in 2020 and extradited to India in 2023. He also faces charges of radicalising youth to join the global terror outfit ISIS in Syria.
In a purported video which surfaced recently, he is seen using a mobile phone with ease and talking about passwords. In the video, he is heard saying, "If the password is available, we will get caught."
The video, along with other clips showing serial rapist and killer Umesh Reddy, actress Ranya Rao's associate Tarun, and other suspected terrorists using mobile phones, listening to music, and watching television inside prison, has raised serious questions about the security and supervision in state prisons.
Addressing the development, State Home Minister G. Parameshwara had said the government has taken the issue seriously, which is why a meeting has been convened. The ADGP (Prisons), other senior officers, and all Superintendents of major prisons have been called for the meeting.
Superintendents from major prisons in Belagavi, Shivamogga, and Ballari have also been summoned. "We have received information about several issues," Parameshwara said.
"I am considering what needs to be done to prevent such lapses. In similar cases, officers have been suspended, and FIRs have been filed, but it seems that is not enough. If such incidents occur inside prisons, can they even be called jails? Officers are given the legal framework to manage prisons - if they fail to perform their duties, is it not a lapse?" he questioned.
"The NIA has made observations in this regard, and I will discuss the matter in the meeting. The observations have been made by the NIA with evidence, and we have taken them seriously," Parameshwara had stated.
The Karnataka BJP unit had staged a protest condemning the surfacing of purported videos showing radical elements, ISIS operatives, and criminals inside Bengaluru Central Prison.
Leader of the Opposition and senior BJP leader R. Ashoka stated that a suspected ISIS terrorist using a mobile phone in Bengaluru jail could be linked to the Delhi blasts, and a deeper investigation could reveal more facts.
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