Bengaluru: Within hours of senior IPS officer Alok Kumar assuming charge as Director General of Police (DGP) of the Prisons and Correctional Services Department, a major crackdown was launched across several prisons in Karnataka to curb illegal activities and restore discipline.

A 36-hour special operation was conducted in key prisons, including the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru and district prisons in Mangaluru, Mysuru, Vijayapura and Belagavi. During the searches, prison authorities recovered a large number of prohibited items such as mobile phones, SIM cards, sharp weapons and narcotic substances from inmates.

At the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison, officials seized six mobile phones and four knives. In Mysuru prison, nine mobile phones and 11 SIM cards were recovered. Belagavi prison officials found four mobile phones, while 366 grams of ganja, reportedly thrown outside during the raid, was also seized. In Vijayapura, one mobile phone was recovered, while four mobile phones were found in the Mangaluru prison.

In a separate night-long inspection at Parappana Agrahara on Tuesday, jail officials detected an even larger cache of contraband. The operation led to the seizure of 14 mobile phones, nine SIM cards, five mobile phone chargers, two earphones and 10 different types of knives. These findings highlighted the extent to which prohibited items had allegedly made their way into high-security prison premises.

According to prison sources, the cumulative seizures from various raids so far include 67 mobile phones, 14 chargers, 48 SIM cards, 10 earphones, Rs 60,880 in cash and 10 sharp weapons. A total of six cases have been registered in connection with these recoveries, and further investigations are underway to identify how the contraband entered the prisons and whether prison staff was involved.

The crackdown comes amid growing concerns that some prisons in the state had turned into “luxury hubs” for certain inmates, with access to mobile phones, drugs and other illegal facilities. In this backdrop, the state government recently elevated Alok Kumar and appointed him as DGP of the Prisons and Correctional Services Department, tasking him with cleaning up the system and enforcing stricter controls. Former ADGP of Prisons B. Dayanand was transferred to the Training wing as part of the administrative reshuffle.

After assuming charge, Alok Kumar issued a stern warning, making it clear that indiscipline and corruption would not be tolerated.

“If officers work honestly and efficiently, their rank does not matter to me and I will treat them like friends. But those who deliberately involve themselves in illegal activities will be dealt with very differently,” he said.

Officials indicated that similar surprise inspections and special operations would continue across prisons in the coming days as part of a sustained effort to break illegal networks operating from within jail premises and restore public confidence in the prison administration.