Ludhiana: A security employee has been arrested for allegedly running a “throw-and-bury” smuggling operation at Ludhiana’s Central Jail, providing inmates with mobile phones, intoxicating powders, and almost 1.5 kg of tobacco.The Punjab Ex-Servicemen Corporation (Pesco) employee, identified as Manpreet Singh, was taken into custody after a dawn patrol by prison officials uncovered a sophisticated delivery system. Authorities have also registered a case against two inmates, Satvinder Singh and Ricky, who were allegedly caught retrieving the contraband near the prison’s gallows yard.A ‘Gallows’ Hidden CacheThe scheme was unraveled at about 7.15am on Sunday when assistant jail superintendent Vijay Kumar and head warder Narinderpal Sharma intercepted the two inmates. Ricky, an inmate facing charges under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, was found with 30 g intoxicating powder and two keypad mobile phones hidden in his trousers. During interrogation, the inmates confessed that Manpreet Singh would throw prohibited items over the prison walls from the outside.Acting on the inmates’ information, jail authorities dug up a patch of soil near the gallows yard, unearthing 1,400 grams of tobacco that had been buried for later retrieval. The arrest of an employee of Pesco — a body typically comprised of former soldiers hired for high-stakes security — has raised serious questions regarding internal surveillance at the facility.The investigating officer, assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Dinesh Kumar confirmed that a case has been registered at the Division Number 7 police station. The trio faces multiple charges under sections 22, 29, 61, and 85 of the NDPS Act, covering the possession and conspiracy to distribute illegal substances. The police investigation is now focusing on whether other staff members were involved in the breach or if similar caches remain hidden elsewhere on the prison grounds.
