Families of 3 undertrial Surat inmates ‘receive calls’ demanding ransom for mattresses, tiffin services in jail

Acting on a ransom and life-threat complaint lodged by builder Varjang Dangar, Adajan police had arrested Smit Dholakiya, Prashant Kachhadiya and Jay Dangar, all Surat residents, a few days ago. After the completion of their police remand, they were transferred to judicial custody at Surat Central Jail on the evening of November 8.

On the afternoon of November 8, while all three accused were in the Surat district court, Sweety Dholakiya (wife of Smit), Kanji Kachhadiya (father of Prashant) and Karshan Dangar (father of Jay) allegedly received calls from the same number. The caller identified himself as a Central Jail jailor and told them they must pay Rs 15,000 each to provide facilities such as a mattress, home tiffin service and other amenities for the trio inside the jail.

Sweety Dholakiya recorded the call, and the purported audio clip later went viral on social media. When the clip reached Surat Central Jail, Jailor Purshottam Chavda checked with his staff and found that none of them had the phone numbers of the families of the accused.

Chavda went to Sachin police station on Sunday evening and filed a complaint against an unidentified person. In the complaint, he stated that he had not made such a call and that all his staffers had denied doing so. The call was made in the afternoon, at a time when the trio were in court. He also questioned how the family members’ mobile numbers had been “leaked”.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Chavda said they were shocked to hear the viral audio clip. He said they believed “such actions are an attempt to tarnish the jail’s reputation,” expressing hope that Sachin police would arrest the caller soon.

Sachin police station inspector P N Vaghela said, “We have registered the offence and have called all the three victims who had received such a ransom call. At present, it is difficult to determine whether the call was made from inside or outside the jail. The accused is familiar with the practices in the jail and made such a ransom call accordingly. We are also using technical surveillance to find out the details of the caller.”

From the homepage

‘She wanted to resign’: BLO dies by suicide, her family in Bengal alleges ‘work pressure’

MP’s elite Hawk Force loses decorated officer in encounter with armed Maoists

Who is Anmol Bishnoi? 5 things about the gangster extradited to India from US