As many as 13 persons, including five constables, were arrested on Sunday after it was discovered that four jail inmates paid bribes to move out and spend quality time with their wives and girlfriends, PTI reported citing the police.
As per the report by the aforementioned news agency, the four inmates– Rafiq Bakri, Bhanwar Lal, Ankit Bansal, and Karan Gupta– sought approvals for medical checkups at Jaipur-based SMS Hospital. Barring one, all the miscreants bribed the officials for a leisurely day out in the city instead of going to the hospital for their medical checkup.
"This outing was arranged for around Rs 25,000, routed through a middleman. The escorting constables were promised Rs 5,000 each," a police officer investigating the case said, as per PTI.
Rafiq and Bhanwar allegedly visited a hotel in Jalupura, where the former met his wife and the latter his ex-girlfriend. Later, authorities discovered narcotics in the possession of Rafiq's wife, leading to her arrest under the NDPS Act, according to DCP Tejaswani Gautam.
Ankit and Karan were located at a hotel near the airport, where they were spotted having poha for breakfast. The room had been booked under the name of Ankit's girlfriend.
Police also detained Karan’s relative, who was carrying Rs 45000 in a hotel along with ID cards of several inmates.
Officials investigating the matter said that a network of bribes and unauthorised mobile use was breeding inside the jail. Over 200 phone calls have been intercepted since August from inside. Through these calls, threats were issued to VIP, including the Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal.
The police said that a case has been registered at the Sawai Man Singh Police Station and an investigation and search has been initiated in the Jaipur Central Jail.