In a surprise raid conducted at the highly fortified and sensitive Central Jail at Kot Bhalwal, in the outskirts of Jammu city, the Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday recovered mobile phones, SIM cards, and other electronic gadgets from the possession of some inmates.
The search operation started at 2 am and continued till 11 am as teams raided every barrack of the jail and thoroughly searched all prisoners, individually, to ensure recovery of all electronic gadgets in the possession of inmates.
Sources said that teams have recovered 12 mobiles, SIM cards, pen drives, headphones, chargers, and other electronic equipment from different barracks.
Biggest ever raid in this Central jail
The raid was conducted by teams of 200 security personnel comprising cops of Jammu and Kashmir Police, CRPF, CID, and CIK. Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Mukhes Singh was himself supervising the operation. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jammu, Chandan Kohli, and senior officers of the CID and CIK were also present on the spot. Most of the jail inmates were in deep sleep when squads raided the jail and started search operations.
Dreaded foreign terrorists lodged in Kot-Bhalwal jail
This highly sensitive and fortified jail is infamous for UN-designated terrorist and founder of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Masood Azhar, who was once detained here. During the Khandhar Hijacking episode, Masood Azhar was released from this jail.
The high-security prison, has over 800 prisoners, including Pakistani and local terrorists. Apart from terrorists, some dreaded gangsters and notorious criminals are also lodged in this jail.
Mobiles phone was earlier recovered from Pakistani terrorist
In April 2020, Jammu and Kashmir Police had recovered some mobile phones and SIM cards from three terrorists, including top Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) commander Abdul Rehman Mughal of Pakistan. These terrorists were using mobile inside the Kot-Bhalwal jail.
As per reports three mobile phones, two SIM cards, besides a charger, one headphone, and a memory card were recovered from the possession of Pakistani terrorist.
It is not for the first time that mobile phones and SIM cards have been seized from a jail militant in Kot Bhalwal jail as earlier also, militants lodged there have been found in possession of mobile phones. In January 2019, in a similar raid, police had recovered a large number of mobile phones and SIM cards.
In 1999, nearly a dozen Pakistani terrorist had dug 100 ft underground tunnel from their barrack to make good their escape, but they were caught by jail officials when they were hardly four or five feet away from freedom.
