PUNE, DEC 3: Inspector General of Prisons T. Singarvel yesterday served showcause notices to a deputy inspector general and the superintendent of Yerawada Central prison for their alleged involvement in providing various facilities to jail inmates illegally.The notices were delivered to Deputy Inspector General B.S. Tikare and superintendent of Yerawada Central prison R.B. Chaudhari at T. Singarvel's office yesterday afternoon. Senior jail officials, who confirmed the reports, said Tikare and Chaudhari had been asked to submit their written explanations to Singarvel within 10 days.The action comes close on the heels of the recovery of a cellular phone battery charger, some audio and video cassettes, two luxurious beds, some packets of dry-fruits and cash worth Rs 27,530 from the Donje Yard of Yerawada jail and the cell in it where MLA Pappu Kalani has been lodged.The recovery was made when a team of jail officials led by Singarvel himself carried out a search of the Donje Yard on November 4. The jailofficials who carried out the search also found some inmates visiting Pappu Kalani illegally in his cell at the time.Five officials and 18 sentries from the Yerawada central prison whose involvement was suspected in providing various illegal facilities to jail inmates have already been transferred by Singarvel.Among these five officials were senior jailor R.N. Parade and jailors Sadanand Gaikwad, Nitin Waichal, R.Z. Chavan and Nagesh Patil. The senior jail officials said these five officials had also been served with notices and asked to submit their written explanations to Singarvel before December 10.According to the jail officials, a preliminary inquiry by Deputy Superintendent Mohammedbhai Mulani of the prison department's Vigilance Branch had revealed that some jail officials had tried to hush up the recovery of a cellular phone from Kalani's cell. It was recovered by the staffers of Yerawada Central Prison about a month before Singarvel carried out the search of Donje Yard and Kalani'scell.Singarvel had decided to carry out a search of Donje Yard and Kalani's cell after receiving anonymous applications complaining that the MLA, who is facing a TADA trial, was using cellular phones to contact his associates from inside the jail. Later, he had received a separate application alleging that some senior jail officials had been involved in hushing up the recovery of a cellular phone from Kalani's cell in October.Singarvel had assigned Deputy Superintendent Mohammedbhai Mulani to conduct an inquiry into the allegations. After recording statements of over 30 persons, including at least five prisoners, Mulani had submitted his report to Singarvel in the last week of November.
