Warder remanded
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By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Feb 25 : The Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Imphal East yesterday remanded 35-year-old Sahid Shah, Warder of Manipur Central Jail Sajiwa, to judicial custody for allegedly facilitating the unauthorized use of mobile phones by jail inmates, including those imprisoned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) to make and receive phone calls.
Sahid Shah, s/o late Ishak of Kairang Mayai Leikai, was produced before the Court after his police custody period ended.
What the APP says
The Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) for the State informed the Court that the Lawful Interception Unit had received credible information indicating that Sahid, in his capacity as Warder, was allowing prisoners to communicate with their respective cadres and arrange money transfers through two mobile phones issued in his name.
Additionally, one landline number was reportedly used by UAPA prisoners.
On receiving the information, an inquiry was carried out, during which Sahid was questioned.
It was revealed that Shah had illegally facilitated the unauthorized use of mobile phones by prisoners.
The inquiry also uncovered that four mobile phones, along with three SIM cards procured in Sahid's name and one SIM card from an unknown person, were being used for these illegal activities.
Sahid also allowed inmates to use his personal Google Pay number to receive money from their family members.
Further investigation revealed that the mobile phones and SIM cards were obtained and used within the jail premises without proper authorization, verification, or monitoring.
Call records were not maintained, phone numbers were not verified, and call logs were deleted, indicating a lack of control and a security breach.
The use of UPI for receiving money from inmates' relatives was deemed irregular and suspicious and these lapses allowed for the misuse of communication facilities, and evidence suggests the phones were used for extortion.
Following these findings, Sahid was arrested on February 16 around 6.30 pm. During interrogation, the accused admitted to the charges. He further revealed that four of the mobile phones, along with the SIM cards (except for one personal mobile phone), were purchased under the instruction of the Assistant Jailor for the purpose of facilitating contact between inmates and their family members or legal counsel.
The APP noted that despite being a responsible jail staff member, Sahid had facilitated communication for UAPA prisoners, allowing them to make unsupervised calls using mobile phones under his custody. These calls were neither recorded nor monitored, and the phone numbers were not verified before allowing the calls. The misuse of these communication facilities contributed to unlawful activities, including extortion and criminal intimidation.
The APP further argued that Sahid's actions demonstrated gross negligence, abuse of official position, and the deliberate facilitation of communication for UAPA prisoners to engage in unlawful activities, endangering both prison security and public safety. At this stage, the remand of the accused was deemed necessary to trace and identify further linkages in the case. The Court, after hearing the submissions of the APP and reviewing the case record, remanded Sahid to judicial custody till March 10 for the continuation of the investigation.
IMPHAL, Feb 25 : The Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Imphal East yesterday remanded 35-year-old Sahid Shah, Warder of Manipur Central Jail Sajiwa, to judicial custody for allegedly facilitating the unauthorized use of mobile phones by jail inmates, including those imprisoned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) to make and receive phone calls.
Sahid Shah, s/o late Ishak of Kairang Mayai Leikai, was produced before the Court after his police custody period ended.
What the APP says
The Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) for the State informed the Court that the Lawful Interception Unit had received credible information indicating that Sahid, in his capacity as Warder, was allowing prisoners to communicate with their respective cadres and arrange money transfers through two mobile phones issued in his name.
Additionally, one landline number was reportedly used by UAPA prisoners.
On receiving the information, an inquiry was carried out, during which Sahid was questioned.
It was revealed that Shah had illegally facilitated the unauthorized use of mobile phones by prisoners.
The inquiry also uncovered that four mobile phones, along with three SIM cards procured in Sahid's name and one SIM card from an unknown person, were being used for these illegal activities.
Sahid also allowed inmates to use his personal Google Pay number to receive money from their family members.
Further investigation revealed that the mobile phones and SIM cards were obtained and used within the jail premises without proper authorization, verification, or monitoring.
Call records were not maintained, phone numbers were not verified, and call logs were deleted, indicating a lack of control and a security breach.
The use of UPI for receiving money from inmates' relatives was deemed irregular and suspicious and these lapses allowed for the misuse of communication facilities, and evidence suggests the phones were used for extortion.
Following these findings, Sahid was arrested on February 16 around 6.30 pm. During interrogation, the accused admitted to the charges. He further revealed that four of the mobile phones, along with the SIM cards (except for one personal mobile phone), were purchased under the instruction of the Assistant Jailor for the purpose of facilitating contact between inmates and their family members or legal counsel.
The APP noted that despite being a responsible jail staff member, Sahid had facilitated communication for UAPA prisoners, allowing them to make unsupervised calls using mobile phones under his custody. These calls were neither recorded nor monitored, and the phone numbers were not verified before allowing the calls. The misuse of these communication facilities contributed to unlawful activities, including extortion and criminal intimidation.
The APP further argued that Sahid's actions demonstrated gross negligence, abuse of official position, and the deliberate facilitation of communication for UAPA prisoners to engage in unlawful activities, endangering both prison security and public safety. At this stage, the remand of the accused was deemed necessary to trace and identify further linkages in the case. The Court, after hearing the submissions of the APP and reviewing the case record, remanded Sahid to judicial custody till March 10 for the continuation of the investigation.