Investigations into the assault on prisoners at the Colvale jail has ripped apart the murky underbelly of the prison system in Goa, which is both compromised and criminalized.
The issue at hand is beyond the brutal Human Rights violations of prisoners being assaulted by jail guards. It is about how a section of the jail staff, including, the deputy jail superintendent of Sada jail, have been running a virtual business, supervising the supply of drugs, mobile phones and other items which make life a breeze for hardened criminals, many of them foreign nationals.
Herald’s sustained investigations have revealed the other side of the assault story. In what is absolutely unbelievable and probably the first in the history of the prison system in India, many of the 72 under-trials carried drugs, mobiles phones, cigarettes etc with them as they moved from the Sada jail to the Colvale jail. So here is what happened. When they left their cells at the Sada jail they carried these items on their person or in bags. Were they not checked by the Sada jail security? All of them then boarded the police vehicle used to transport the prisoners from the Sada sub jail to the Colvale jail. Jail staff including the Deputy Superintendent of jails Bhanudas Pednekar, a controversial officer known for ‘dealing’ with prisoners, sat in the same bus where prisoners were carrying drugs and mobiles.
When the motley crew reached the Colvale jail they would have actually moved passed security and into their new jail with all these items if it had not been for the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) force which checked the prisoners thoroughly. It was only because the drugs and mobiles were confiscated that the hardened prisoners decided to assault the jail staff.
Anything else that happened thereafter will be the subject of our stories. But for now the narrative can pause and the significance of this narrative needs to be understood. The prison system in Goa has been completely destroyed. At every level officers down to the jail guards are on the take. Herald has investigated and reported on how major parties are held by prisoners from time to time, on how there is a steady supply of alcohol and how influential prisoners even run their businesses or criminal gangs from the confines of the Sada jail.
Even reports and recommendations made by inquiry committees have been ignored. The suspended jail superintendent of the Colvale jail Melvyn Vaz states that his raids on the Sada jail, unearthed the presence of drugs and mobiles which were used. Deputy Superintendent Bhanudas Pednekar, according to Mr Vaz, allowed this free flow. The IG prisons and the state Home Department need to explain why no action was taken on this report.
For now, the entire prison system needs to be overhauled, a fresh crop brought in and security raids need to be carried out by an external team. Ordering an inquiry by the IG prisons, who is a part of the system due to the position he holds, is a hogwash meant to conceal the truth and not reveal it. An independent inquiry and strict corrective action is imperative to restore sanity and sanctity to our prison system, which is now nothing less than a corrupt circus.
