Karnataka suspends jail chief after videos showed inmates drinking, smoking

The Karnataka government has suspended the Kalaburagi central jail’s chief superintendent after videos emerged of inmates drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, and playing cards inside the prison. Alok Kumar, DGP (prisons and correctional services), issued the suspension order for R Anitha on September 3 pending a departmental inquiry.

She has been transferred to the new central prison in Vijayapura and directed not to leave the headquarters without permission. A senior officer who investigated the videos found the allegations of VIP treatment afforded to prison inmates true prima facie and noted lapses on Anitha's part, sources said.

Anitha was also in the news in 2017 when ousted AIADMK leader V K Sasikala received special treatment at the Bengaluru central prisons, where the officer was posted. She was transferred out after the incident. In July, three convicts escaped from the central prison by cutting the bathroom grill and using a ladder to scale the compound wall.

They were later arrested. The prison superintendent, assistant superintendent, a jailer, and five warders were suspended pending an inquiry. Also, there were incidents of fights between inmates at the Kalaburagi central prison.

In 2024, a police officer received an audio message stating that Anitha’s car would be blown up. A case was registered over the call. In the same year, Anitha said she received Rs 10,000 on her mobile phone from an unknown woman named Noorjaan.

Suspecting a ploy to defame her, the officer filed a complaint at the Kalaburagi CEN police station.