New Delhi: Shambulal Regar, the Rajasthan man jailed for hacking a Muslim labourer from West Bengal to death two months ago, has released two new incendiary videos from what appears to be his cell in Jodhpur’s central prison, raising question marks over the security apparatus.
The 36-year-old had killed and burnt the body of 50-year-old Mohammad Afrazul on December 6 last year, and all of it was recorded on camera. The extremely disturbing video clips of the hate crime were widely circulated before his arrest. Police in its chargesheet to the court has claimed that Regar killed his victim out of jealousy and a failed love affair and masked it with charge of ‘love jihad’ to hide his motives.
In the new videos being circulated, Regar makes a long-hate filled rant against Muslims, urging Hindus to unite against “jihadis”. Wearing a hoodie and reading the message from a paper, he makes repeated references to Islamic terrorism, love jihad and counterfeit currency.
He also claimed to have composed a ‘remix deshbhakti bhajan’, which he wants everyone to play twice a day to instill a spirit of patriotism. He also demanded support from the masses for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In the second clip, he alleged a threat to his life from a prisoner from West Bengal. But he expressed no regrets for his crime. “I couldn't bear threats to Hindu women. I have ruined my life and I don't regret it. But I am sad about the fact that the law and the media showed illicit relationship with her and me," he said.
Two things stand out vis-à-vis the video Regar shot from his high security cell in Jodhpur central jail. First is that the huge jail complex in Jodhpur, which is considered to be the most secure jail complex after New Delhi’s Tihar jail, has no jammers to block 4G signals, leave aside a mechanism to prevent smuggling of mobile phones.
In the past too, there have been reports of inmates using internet-enabled cellphones freely inside the jail complex. Regar is lodged in one of the three high security barracks in the jail.
The other is the context of his speech, in which Regar makes references to Israel’s policy towards its neighbours. Regar had not even completed his matriculation and those close to him claim that he could not write. How was then the able to draft his speech and read it out from his cell? “I don’t know how he spoke about Israel and boasted of analyzing the security situation of India when he could not even read. Something is fishy,” said a local from Rajsamand over phone.
Sources said that Regar seemed to be suffering from mental troubles for a long time, and the result of his mental troubles is what came out in those videos.
“Regar had been saying for a long time that he wanted to be shifted out of his cell. When he was asked what his problem was he said it was a threat to his life. We thoroughly inquired and checked his cell and those around him, but couldn’t find anything suspicious,” said jail superintendent Vikram Thakur.
He also talked about the person with whom Regar had shared his cell for some time, the one Regar referred to in his video. In the video, Regar said that jail authorities had introduced a man named Vasudev Brahmin in his cell, who spoke communally against Muslims, but who Regar later found was a Muslim himself.
“Yes there was a person named Vasudev Brahmin. He is son of one Meghnad Sarkar but let me assure you he’s not a Muslim. He was brought here after being convicted of drug peddling. And never threatened to talked to Regar in the way suggested in the video. We have shifted Vasudev out of Regar’s cell,” Thakur added.
Jail authorities say that an inquiry into how Regar was able to get his hands on an internet enabled smartphone has been launched, but nothing concrete has been found till now.
Sources in Central jail, where godman Asaram Bapu is also lodged, say that seven jammers have been installed in and around Jodhpur Central Jail. But, as per the technology of that time, they were designed only to intercept 2G signals. “Prisoners here can easily use 4G signals and compose videos and make video calls,” said a source.
Not only is the deficiency of cellphone jammers a huge concern, internet connectivity in the jail is boosted by the presence of seven mobile towers, all of which are reportedly located within 500 meters from the complex.
Jodhpur Central jail has been infamous for the lawlessness in its campus. In 2010, the then jailer Bharat Bhushan Bhatt was murdered by some of the inmates with a knife. In 2011, the then IG (Jail) had recovered 50 mobile phones from the jail, and in 2016-17, more than 10 cases of mobile phone recovery from the jail have been filed.
In July last year, Ashok Rathore, the police commissioner, Jodhpur, reportedly told a court that Jodhpur jail is a breeding ground of criminals, who have been active in criminal activities from jail itself by using internet.
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