Life convict caught with two phones after parole

Jail sources said that the convict returned Tuesday evening after his parole with the phones. “He did not hide it anywhere; it was kept in a carry bag that he had with him. It appears he was planning to take the phones and SIM cards inside nonchalantly. We caught him during the routine check,” said a jail officer. 

The convict Sunil (40), a resident of Vetrivel Nagar in Chitlapakkam, was convicted for a murder he had committed in the year 1999. Till now, he has availed parole as many as 30 times during his stay in the prison. 

He told the officers that it was given to him by two people who told him that a man named Appu, also lodged in the same jail, would collect it from him, sources added. 

It may be noted that the officers have been conducting regular searches in the cells to crackdown on the illegal use of mobile phones inside the jail campus. “This year we have so far seized eight mobile phones and number of SIM cards from the inmates,” said an officer. 

Sunil, who had enjoyed parole in the past, would not be able to avail one in the future because he had tried to smuggle in a banned item, the officer added. 

Though lodged in prison, access to mobile phones enabled criminals to continue their activities from inside the fall walls of the jail. Hardened criminals do not use the land line facility available in the jail to guard against their conversations being monitored. “Over 200 prisoners use the land line facility in the Puzhal prison to talk to their relatives on daily basis,” the officer noted.