Chagala found with cellphone in jail

BHUBANESWAR: In what could revive the debate on how criminals continue to operate from behind the bars, Akshaya Behera alias Chagala, who was convicted in the judo coach Biranchi Das murder, was found possessing a mobile phone. Chagala is lodged in Special Jail, Jharpada. The prison authorities raided his ward on Saturday night and found a mobile phone which he had been using. It was hidden away in an electricity board in Ward no. 11 of the jail, sources said.  After getting a tip-off, the prison authorities carried out the inspection. The fellow inmates also corroborated that Chagala was seen using the mobile phone. During preliminary investigation, the jail officials found that at least 88 outgoing calls had been made from the cellphone. The call details have been recorded and investigation will be carried out who the call receivers are. Police suspect that Chagala may have been calling businessmen and traders.“While the incident brings to the fore illegal use of mobile phones on the prison premises, what really is important is the reason why Chagala was calling up the numbers,” said an official. It is suspected that Chagala may have been making extortion calls from the jail. Criminals using cellphones in the prisons is not uncommon. Chagala, an aide of gangster Sandip alias Raja Acharya also convicted for murdering Biranchi, is  a history-sheeter.