Prisoner's death exposes deep-rooted drug supply nexus in Bhondsi jail

Gururgam: No longer a secret, the death of 27-year- old Akhilesh Kumar has again opened up a can of worms and yet again brought to light the fact that how there has been a rampant supply of drugs within the Bhondsi jail complex.

The theory of Akhilesh who was apparently serving a life term after being convicted in a murder case succumbing due to his illness completely changed after the postmortem report was received on Wednesday evening which revealed that there were 20 small packets of drugs in his stomach.

Subsequently, a magisterial enquiry was ordered in the case. However, the all-important question remains that how a 27-year-old, also an asthmatic patient, managed to consume such a large quantity of drugs within the jail premises for such a long time.

Interestingly just a day prior of the death of the inmate, a jail official arrested a person who in connivance with the prisoner's relatives was able to sneak in a cell phone and huge quantity of narcotic substances hidden in his uniform into the confinement. Sulfa and Opium are the widely supplied drugs in the jail complex.

This is not for the first time when the integrity of the officials has been compromised in form of supply of drugs to the inmates. In October 2018, a lab technician who was contracted by the district police for testing the HIV virus among the prisoners was found to be supplying psychotropic drugs to over 20 prisoners.

Just four months before this incident two jail wardens were also found guilty for the same act. To deal with these mounting challenges, the Gurugram police had also tried to appoint retired personnel from defence services to manage the jail.

Being the richest district of the state, the drug mafia along with illegal liquor trade is now posing a major law and order challenge for the law enforcement officials. Not only Bhondsi jail but trafficking of drugs as a crime has gained a major foothold in Gurugram with a large number of cases being reported from the city.

According to sources, most of the big criminal gangs that are operating in the city are now shifting their focus from illegal land deals and extortion to transportation and supply of drugs. While Synthetic drugs like Ganja, Sulfa are high in demand other forms like charas, Opium and heroin are also gaining popularity.

Most drugs are supplied from areas of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. However, to expand the base the drug mafia has also started procuring their supply from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Himachal Pradesh.