Bengaluru: Inside Bengaluru central prison, a routine Tuesday turned combustible when nearly 50 inmates staged a fiery protest — all over one thing: the sudden ban on cigarettes and beedis in the canteen.For years, despite the prison manual banning tobacco sales, the canteen quietly stocked cigarettes and beedis, citing humanitarian grounds for addicted inmates. But when the sales were stopped, tempers flared.Sources said the unrest didn’t happen overnight. It began as quiet grumbling last Friday and Saturday, when a few inmates begged to meet the prison officials to negotiate and restore their daily smoke. With no response, frustration snowballed — and soon, slogans echoed through the barracks.Additional director general of police (prisons and correctional services) B Dayananda told TOI that the protesting inmates were sent back to their barracks. “Yes, we have decided to stop selling cigarettes and beedies in the prison canteen. There is no permission to sell them under the prison manual. All these days, they were being sold on humanitarian grounds. However, from here onwards, all such sales are stopped,” Dayananda said, adding, “We’re making sure no illegal activity happens inside the barracks, including mobile phone use. Security is being tightened on all fronts,” he said.The inmates had come under scanner in recent times after allegations of extortion calls from inside surfaced. Last week, prison officials, carrying out special raids in the evenings and late at night, seized more than 50 mobile phones from different barracks.Last month, home minister G Parameshwara suspended two officials — SP Imamsab Myageri and ASP Ashok Bhajantri — and transferred chief superintendent K Suresh after videos of VIP perks for inmates surfaced.
