Vadodara authorities recently deployed a team of 100 policemen to conduct an extensive search operation in the Central Jail, lasting for ten hours. The search yielded only three packets of gutkha, tobacco, and dried leaves used for making bidis. The operation was a part of a state-wide effort ordered by Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi to inspect all jails for contraband and security breaches.
Sanghvi initiated the inspections after personally visiting Police Bhavan in Gandhinagar late on Friday night. He later arrived at Sabarmati Jail unannounced, following reports of mobile phones being repeatedly discovered within the facility, as well as instances of prisoners receiving favored items like paan, masala, liquor, and gutkha.
The statewide crackdown included reviews of the conditions in 32 jails and their impact on law and order. Police were instructed to conduct raids in all prisons after 7 pm. In Vadodara Central Jail, the team of 100 police personnel, which included senior officers and women officers, carried out the search operation from late night until morning.
Upon completion, a police officer confirmed that no serious contraband had been found in Vadodara Central Jail during the operation.
