Jails are no bar for Bihar's gangsters, thanks to mobile phones.

Havildar Singh, an undertrial lodged in Buxar Central Jail on charges of extortion and attempt to murder, has been accused of extorting bank officials and businessmen over his cellphone from behind bars.

Police on Sunday lodged an FIR against Singh after a video of him making calls from jail was widely circulated on social media on Saturday. Singh, who is facing charges of loot, extortion and attempt to murder, had made repeated calls to a bank official demanding a huge amount of money.

Buxar Central Jail superintendent Vijay Kumar Arora said a police complaint has been lodged against Singh, who is kept in the Tulsi Ashram ward of the prison. The complaint had been lodged with Buxar Town police station on the statement of jailor Satish Kumar Singh, Arora said.

Sources said Havildar Singh's wife is the mukhiya (panchayat head) of Khutaha panchayat in Buxar district and is said to enjoy immense political clout.

A team of police and district administration officials carried out a search operation inside the jail on Sunday, and seized a mobile phone from the Tulsi Ashram ward. The team could not trace the phone from which the extortion calls were purportedly made.

This is hardly the first time such cases have been reported from Bihar's jails.

A complaint was lodged against Ravi Kumar, also lodged in the same jail, after he demanded money from Raghvendra Pratap Singh, a private bank official posted in Buxar district.

Last year, a case was lodged against a gangster in Muzaffarpur for demanding money from the Shaheed Khudiram Bose Memorial Central Jail.