Mobile phones, charger seized in Puzhal jail

According to sources, inmates manage to use mobile phones with the help of officers in the jail and seizures take place regularly. The search comes five days after the murder of boxer Murali inside the prison by five other inmates.

Jail sources said that the surprise raids were carried out in high security block by a team of officers headed by a jailor on Saturday between 7 pm and 9 pm. The team decided to dig near a tree after noticing some suspicious activity there. They found five phones – four Samsung made and 1 Nokia along with Rs 3500 cash, sources said. It was believed that the phones were under the ‘control’ of a Colombian inmate, who is lodged in the prison in connection with a narcotic smuggling case.

The raid team had also found phones hidden near the toilet and seized them. They also seized a phone from Nathuram, the prime accused in the Kolathur heist case. “He was talking on the phone when the team caught him,” sources said. Nathuram was involved in number of burglaries in Chennai and an inspector was killed in an accidental firing by another inspector in Rajasthan, where they went to hunt the suspect in December last year. “A phone charger was also seized from him,” sources added.