The Jammu and Kashmir police are in a tizzy after 14 mobile phones were found in the cells of various inmates during a search at the Baramulla sub-jail. At least two of them appear to be brand-name smartphones. Local reports are saying the seizure of the cellphones have resulted in the busting of a major separatist network that was being run from inside the prison — one that has encouraged some recent stone-pelting incidents.
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An official statement from the J&K Police said: "A joint search was conducted by Baramulla police and the jail authorities today [Sunday, April 2] in sub-jail Baramulla on the basis of information that some incriminating material including unauthorised cellphones are being used inside the jail premises."
They added in the statement: "While conducting the search, 14 cellphones and incriminating materials were recovered from the possession of jail inmates." The other materials seized from the inmates include OEM and improvised chargers, earphones and other cellphone-related paraphernalia.
The police statement also said: "An FIR has been registered and investigation is on as to how these articles which are not authorised as per jail manual made their entry into the jail premises." The Baramulla sub-jail inmates having mobile phones is being seen as a huge breach of security.
Local reports claimed after the seizure of the mobile phones that they were seized from inmates who were fanning protests against the government and the armed forces in Jammu and Kashmir. The reports also claimed that two of the phones were obtained from incarcerated separatist leader Masarat Alam Bhat, who was a major suspect in the 2010 stone-pelting incidents in J&K.
