Bengaluru prison under scanner after videos show inmates using phones; probe ordered

Allegations of serious security breaches and preferential treatment have emerged at Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara Central Jail after videos surfaced showing high-profile inmates, including an alleged ISIS recruiter and a convicted serial rapist and killer, using mobile phones and watching television inside the facility.

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In one video, Zuhaib Hameed Shakeel Manna, accused of recruiting for ISIS, is seen scrolling through his phone as a TV or radio plays in the background. The clip shows him speaking to someone while sipping tea.

Phones, privilege, and lapses

According to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Manna, along with his associates, raised funds, radicalised Muslim youth through the “Quran Circle Group,” and recruited them before facilitating their illegal travel to Syria via Turkey to join ISIS.

“Zuhaib Manna had used his contacts to motivate and radicalise many impressionable Muslim youth by showing them videos depicting atrocities against Muslims in Syria,” the NIA stated.

One of the clips purportedly showed Umesh Reddy, a rape convict facing multiple charges of sexual offences, using an Android phone inside the prison. A television set was also seen installed inside his barrack, sources added.

Photos of Tarun Raju, arrested in connection with the Ranya Rao gold smuggling case, have also surfaced, showing him using a mobile phone and cooking inside the jail.

Internal inquiry ordered

After the undated videos, which recently surfaced on social media, triggered serious security concerns, the prison authorities said on Saturday that an internal inquiry has been launched to verify the authenticity of the footage and identify those responsible for facilitating such access.

"Further action will be taken based on the outcome of the investigation," officials said.

Not the first instance

This is not the first time the Parappana Agrahara Central Jail, which houses several high-risk inmates, has come under scrutiny. In October, a video of notorious rowdy-sheeter Srinivas, also known as Gubbachi Seena, celebrating his birthday inside the prison went viral.

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Srinivas, who is accused in a murder case, was seen cutting a cake and wearing an apple garland while being surrounded by other inmates. The clips and photos of the celebration, allegedly recorded on mobile phones and later shared on social media, once again raised serious concerns about security lapses, oversight, and accountability within the prison system.

Last year, a photograph showing Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, currently in custody in connection with the Renukaswamy murder case, receiving preferential treatment inside the jail had also surfaced. The image showed Darshan seated on a chair, holding a cigarette and a coffee mug, as he chatted with fellow inmates, including history-sheeter Wilson Garden Naga.