Panaji:
A high-level state government inquiry into the affairs of central jail at Aguada has found the presence of three major "gangs" headed by convicts.
Additional District Magistrate Dipak Desai, in the inquiry report submitted to the state government earlier this month, has said that a few prisoners get good treatment while there are several inmates who are treated like "underdogs" in the prison, located 10 kms from Panaji.
The findings of the report stem from a probe initiated by Desai into the food poisoning incident in the jail reported on May 31, in which one prisoner had died while more than 100 took ill.
The report, a copy of which is with the PTI, mentions that constant questioning of various inmates brought to the fore that there are "groups" inside the Aguada jail.
"The possibility of one group seeking to avenge the other by all means of hook or by crook cannot be ruled out and hence the inmates were grilled," the report says.
One of the prisoner, whose name is mentioned in the report, told the inquiry officers that there are three gangs, headed by Naresh Parab, Subhash Krishnan and Ramnath Verenkar, all prisoners convicted for different offences.
The inquiry committee had interrogated Parab, who was the incharge of the kitchen, when food poisoning happened, but ruled out any foul play by him as "he and his supporters were also among those admitted for food poisoning."
"Though gangs to evince supremacy may be prevalent, they are not of such a nature who would indulge in an act which is in the nature of mass massacre," Desai concluded.
The inquiry has also spilled beans on how banned substances like mobile phones, cigarettes and alcohol can be easily smuggled in the jail after colluding with the prison officials.
Though the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) police personnel are posted at the main entrance of the jail to frisk the prisoners, little progress has been made on the aspect of checking the prisoners at the entry point, the report says.
The inquiry has mentioned that often when prisoners are taken to court for trial or for medical treatment, at the time of return to the jail, unwanted things get sneaked into the prison.
