Berhampur, May 11: Former Congress MLA Ramesh Jena, who is facing several criminal charges, was shifted from the Berhampur Circle Jail to Chatrapur sub-jail under tight security today.
His alleged associate, Ranjit Nayak, who is a councillor, was also shifted to Digapahandi sub-jail.
"I have directed the jail authorities to shift the two undertrials due to security reasons," said Prem Chandra Chowdhary, the district collector of Ganjam.
The district administration swung into action after joint raids by cops and the administration on Monday morning. Cigarettes, pedestal fans, ganja pouches along with Rs 66,000 of hard cash were recovered from the jail premises, which included Jena's cell. He is accused of running an extortion racket in the city.
The jail authorities have suspended Chinmaya Pradhan, a warder, for negligence of duty. Another warder, Mangulu Sethi, had been shifted out of the jail on administrative grounds.
"I have asked the jail authorities to lodge hardcore criminals in separate cells. If the situation demands, the undertrial prisoners would also be shifted to other jails," Chowdhary said.
Berhampur Circle Jail has 25 general and 20 special wards. It lodges 760 inmates, including 100 notorious criminals. The jail has 67 warders (both males and females) guarding the premises in three shifts. One platoon of police has also been deployed outside the jail. Armed forces are also deployed on the watchtowers in all the corners of the high security jail.
CCTV cameras have been fixed on the entrance of the jail. Baggage checking machine and metal detectors have also been pressed in service. But the district administration is still worried as the inmates somehow collected banned substances on jail premises. "We will take action against the erring employees after the jailor submits his statement," said C howdhary.
"We are having mobile phone jammers in the jail. But, it is only meant for 2G phones. The six mobile phones seized inside the jail are 4G and the prisoners were using it with ease. We have requested the higher authorities to install 4G jammers," said jail superintendent Rabindra Nath Majhi.
