Nayagarh: The warders of the Nayagarh sub-jail at Khuntabandh, about eight km from here, not only demand money from the relatives of prisoners, but also make available toxic material to some convicts, a report said.
Ganja, bidi, cigarette and other toxic materials can be easily supplied to the inmates by bribing the warders, it was alleged.
On the other hand, 238 inmates have been put up in the jail against its strength of 160 leaving them to survive like animals. The security arrangement in the jail is also slack due to a shortage of warders. At present 12 are on duty in place of 15.
The jail administration is still clueless about an inmate who had fled from the jail February 5 last year. The fugitive was identified as Sourav Kumar Bisoi alias Pupuli of Badatangipatnasahi under Itamati police limits. Pupuli, a convict in two rape cases, was serving jail term of 22 years from June 2015. However, he managed to escape hoodwinking the jail authorities. Sadar police have also not taken any measure to trace the fugitive.
When contacted, Sadar IIC Manorama Mallik said a case was registered and the police have inquired at the home of the convict but failed to get any leads.
Police are investigating the matter and the prisoner would soon be picked up, Mallik added.
Warder Santosh Kumar Samantray was suspended in the matter following a probe but no action was taken against top officials.
Assistant jailer Upendra Kumar Jena admitted that more inmates have been accommodated in the limited space but refused to accept that toxic materials are allowed inside the jail.
It is the role of the police to nab the fugitive but they don’t show any interest in pursuing the case, Jena claimed.
PNN
