Kolkata: Three smartphones, Wi-Fi equipment, multiple storage devices and Rs 31,000 in cash were sized from the high-security Presidency Correctional Home’s Cell No. 14, occupied by life convict Aftab Ahmed Ansari, the mastermind behind the 2002 terror attack on the American Center, prompting an investigation into the security breach.Investigators are investigating possible prison staff involvement and examining how network gear, routers and electronic devices were smuggled into the high-security cell block without being detected.The items were seized during a surprise joint search by a team of officers and staff from Presidency Correctional Home and officers under the supervision of the DIG (Dum Dum) of Correctional Services, Bengal between 6.20 pm and 8.10 pm on Aug 23. Following the raid, Saikat Sengupta, controller of Presidency Correctional Home, lodged a complaint at the Hastings PS on behalf of the chief controller, Shibaji Ray. He submitted a written complaint and the seized items.Cops at the Hastings PS on Aug 28 registered a case under sections 81A and 83(3) of the West Bengal Correctional Services Act, 1992 (using wireless network in prisons), treating the complaint and the seizure list as an FIR.A couple of days earlier, late on Aug 20, during another check at the Presidency facility, the authorities recovered a smartphone and a SIM card from undertrial Abdul Moinuddin.The inventory of items recovered from Ansari’s cell revealed a high-tech communication setup. Search officers seized a blue OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite 5G smartphone (Model CPH2619) tied to phone number 9749430673, containing a Jio SIM card bearing the number, 89918400400675360161. Officers also seized a blue OPPO K10 smartphone (Model CPH2373) with the number, 8240222695, containing a Jio SIM card, bearing number 89918730400355003563. A black iPhone (391096-1952) was also recovered, fitted with a Jio SIM card, bearing number 89918730400371560430. The team found internet equipment, including two black Jio M25 routers alongside a Secureye Wi-Fi hotspot device. Additional seized items included two MNZ card readers, a 128 GB HP pen drive, an EVM EnStore 128 GB 4-in-1 OTG device, an imported XYZ 4-in-1 OTG adapter, a KDM USB Type-C port connected to a KDM OTG adapter, and a pair of boAt Nirvana Ion ANC wireless earbuds in an open charging case (YHLT7350042). The stash of Rs 31,000 consisted of 62 notes of Rs-500 denomination.Ansari, who operates under aliases Raju, Amit, and Hero, is a terror operative. During the 1990s, while being incarcerated in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, Ansari established ties with extremist organisations and Jaish-e-Mohammed members. Operating out of Dubai, he directed extortion, kidnapping and arms-smuggling networks while maintaining ties with Pakistan’s ISI. On Jan 22, 2002, gunmen on motorcycles, acting on Ansari’s orders, fired from automatic weapons outside the American Center in Kolkata, killing five cops and injuring 20 others, reportedly settling scores for the killing of his associate, Asif Reza Khan. Ansari was arrested in Dubai and deported to India in Feb 2002. Although initially sentenced to death for plotting the attack, the Supreme Court commuted his sentence to life imprisonment in 2014.
