Goa jail superintendent summoned, 4 staffers suspended after inmates burn Ravana effigy

Four officials – assistant jail superintendent Chandrakant Harijan, assistant jailer Ramnath Gawde and jailers Mahesh Phadte and Anil Gaonkar – have been placed under suspension for alleged dereliction of duty and a departmental enquiry has been initiated against the jail staff.

A senior official said the incident is suspected to have taken place on the day of Dussehra. “It is a serious lapse. Prima facie, it appears that the jail staffers acted in connivance with some inmates. Inflammable material including explosives and banned substances were allowed inside jail. A huge effigy, around 20 feet high, was built by the inmates and then set alight…not even a match-stick should have made it onto the jail premises,” the official said.

The suspension orders were issued by Inspector General of Prisons after a purported video of some inmates burning an effigy of Ravana and bursting crackers surfaced on social media on Friday.

The list of items brought to the jail for the effigy and celebration included 3 kg of bending wire, 20 pieces of glue gun sticks, 10 pieces of big bamboo, six boxes of fire crackers, a box of rocket crackers, two scissors, 50 kgs of sweets, 20 packets of glitter, five pieces of big tape and 2 kg of thread.

According to sources, on October 19, the Superintendent of Central Jail, Colvale granted permission for a list of items to be allowed for “use of inmates…in respect to the decoration and celebration of Dussehra festival.”

A note issued by the office of Superintendent, Central Jail, Colvale on October 19, said, “In view of the same, you are kindly requested to direct your staff to allow the entry of the same in the jail premises, taking into consideration safety and security aspects upon a thorough check through all the items.”

Officials said the Superintendent of the jail has been issued a show-cause notice for the security lapse. “The statement of four suspended officials will be recorded on Monday. We are also enquiring who recorded the video and if inmates had access to mobile phones. A thorough probe will be conducted and a report shall be submitted soon,” said an official requesting anonymity.