Gun, cartridges seized from don in Alipore jail raid

KOLKATA: Guards at Alipore Central Jail on Monday evening seized an improvised gun and five rounds of live cartridges from dreaded don Sadique Zafar alias Gudda, who was serving his sentence at the correctional home at present. This was perhaps the first time that firearms were found with an inmate in any jail in the state. A gun was seized from an inmate of Amritsar jail in June last year.
The unscheduled raid also yielded a cellphone and a SIM card from another convict, Gunjan Ghosh.
Gudda, a central Kolkata don, had been charged with dozens of cases of murder, extortion and kidnapping. Weeks after his release on bail in September, 2010, he was arrested from the Park Street area for his involvement in a series of abductions. Not to be mellowed while in jail, Gudda made extortion calls from his phone and a trader from Entally lodged a complaint against him in June, 2011, for alleged extortion calls.
Gunjan, on the other hand, is one of the shrewdest and ruthless criminals from the past decade. He was the mastermind behind Roma Jhawar's abduction and the murder of Mithun Koley.
The recovery of the ammunition once again revealed the nexus between some jail guards and inmates. Jail sources said both Gudda and Gunjan were kept in cell number 3 as solitary inmates. While Gudda was lodged in a ground-floor room, Gunjan's room was on the first floor adjacent to the one where six AMRI directors are lodged.
Soon after the raid, senior jail department officials ordered an inquiry realizing the gravity of the incident. Jail officers claimed that it is next to impossible to smuggle in a gun through the tight security barrier. "Every inmate and jail staff enters the jail through door frame metal detectors. Even food from outside is passed through metal detectors," said a jail officer. He hinted about insiders' role in smuggling of the gun. Jail sources said Gudda was taken for production at Howrah court on Monday afternoon. It is suspected that he probably managed to procure the ammunition at that time.
During reentry, Gudda managed to smuggle in the gun perhaps with the help of guards, said a jail staff. Following initial inquiry, the jail superintendent suspended two warders for negligence of duty. Two others, including a discipline officer, were suspended on Tuesday, said IG Prison Ranvir Kumar.
A section of jail officers believes that Gudda was planning to handover the gun to Gunjan whose room is next to the AMRI directors. "Gunjan is now very close to Gudda. They were probably planning to extort the AMRI bosses,'' said a jail officer. Kumar, however, claimed that he is not aware of any extortion bid inside the jail.
Late on Monday, Gudda was shifted to Dum Dum central jail.
After cell phones and cannabis, jail inmates now have guns too. During an unscheduled raid late on Monday evening, jail guards recovered an improvised gun and five rounds of live cartridges from the cell of dreaded don Sadique Zafar alias Gudda at Alipore Central Jail. This is perhaps the first time that firearms were found among inmates of any jail in Bengal. During the same raid, a cell phone and sim card was also seized from another convict Gunjan Ghosh's possession. A gun was seized from an inmate of Amritsar jail in June, 2010.
Gudda, a dreaded central Kolkata don, has been charged with dozen's of cases of murder, extortion and kidnapping. Weeks after his release on bail in September, 2010, he was arrested from the Park street area for involvement in a series of abductions. Not to be mellowed while in jail, Gudda made extortion calls from his cell and a trader from Entally lodged a complaint against him in June, 2011 for alleged extortion. Gunjan, on the other hand, is in the police's eyes one of the shrewdest and ruthless criminals in the past one decade. He was the mastermind behind Roma Jhawar's abduction and the murder of Mithun Koley.
The recovery of the gun and ammunition once again revealed the nexus between some jail guards and inmates. Jail sources said both Gudda and Gunjan were kept in cell number 3 as solitary inmates. While Gudda was lodged in the ground floor room, Gunjan's room is on the first floor adjacent to the one where six AMRI directors are lodged.
Soon after the recovery, senior jail department officials were informed. They ordered an inquiry realizing the gravity of the incident. Jail officers claimed that it is next to impossible to smuggle in a gun through the tight security barriers. "Every inmate and jail staff enters the jail through door frame metal detectors. Even food from outside is passed through metal detectors," said a jail officer. He hinted about insiders' role in smuggling of the gun. Jail sources said Gudda was taken for production at Howrah court on Monday afternoon. It is suspected that he probably managed to procure the arms and ammunition at that time.
During reentry, Gudda managed to smuggle in the gun and ammunition inside the premises perhaps with the help of guards, said a jail staff. Following the initial inquiry, the jail superintendent suspended two warders for negligence of duty. Two others, including a discipline officer, were suspended on Tuesday, said IG Prison Ranvir Kumar.
A section of jail officers have reason to believe that Gudda was planning to handover the gun to Gunjan whose room is next to the AMRI directors. "Gunjan is now very close to Gudda. They were probably planning to extort the AMRI bosses,'' said a jail officer. Kumar, however, claimed that he is not aware of any extortion bid inside the jail.
Late on Monday, Gudda was shifted to Dumdum central jail.