Sabarmati jail convict booked over cannabis seizure; Probe ordered into 2 cases in Surat

On March 25,  surprise checks  were conducted in district jails, sub-jails and special jails of the state in which cannabis (ganja), mobile phones, lethal items were seized.

In Surat, 58.06 grams of ganja, 7.84 grams of charas and tobacco products were found outside the barracks of the central jail. As many as 10 mobile phones were also found from different barracks of the jail.

Two different complaints in this connection were registered with Sachin police station.

Talking to the Indian Express Surat Police Commissioner Ajay Kumar Tomar said, “The reason behind ordering two independent agencies to probe in two different cases is that they can go deeper and find out the actual culprits. The list of the inmates will be taken and it will be checked who are addicted to contraband. In the case of seizure mobile phone, we will take out the call detail record of each number and find out who had made calls to whom.”

In Sabarmati Central Jail, 58 grams of cannabis worth Rs 330 were seized from Sheikh’s cell and he was booked under a fresh case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act.

Superintendent of Police at the Sabarmati Central Jail, JS Chavada told The Indian Express, “Sheikh was booked under IPC sections 392 (robbery) and 397 (robbery, or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt). He was sent to the old Sabarmati jail in 2016 for seven years.”

According to the FIR registered at the Ranip police station on March 25, during the surprise check in the jail, a “Vimal bag” was hanging on the wall near the bed of Sheikh. Beside the bed, 13 transparent rectangular shaped light green colour sachets of the “suspicious substance” were found.

The suspicious material was brought out of the barrack, and after taking the legal consent of Sheikh to get the items procured from his belongings checked by the FSL team on the spot at the jail, using the narcotics test kit, it was found to be cannabis, which upon being taken out of the sachets, was found to be sticky, partially moist and greenish-brown.

It weighed 58 grams and was estimated to be about Rs. 330 grams.

“The case has been given to the Ahmedabad crime branch for further investigation, and Sheikh is still not arrested as he is in judicial custody. Permission has been seeked for his formal arrest in this case,” said Bhagirathsinh Gohil, the inspector at the Ranip police station.

Only one FIR was lodged after the surprise check in the Sabarmati central jail.

Demand for action against officials

Bhartiya Gauraksha Manch president Dharmesh Gami of Surat on Wednesday wrote a letter to Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi demanding strict legal actions against jail officials in connection with the recovery of ganja, charas and mobile phones from the Surat Central Jail.

In the letter, Gami said that the police should probe how such banned substances entered into the jail premises.  Officials who had shown negligence in their duties should be strictly punished and suspended, Gami said.

“We appreciate the idea of surprise checking (in prisons)… We have demanded that those officials who had shown negligence in their duties should be suspended and punished,” Gami told The Indian Express.