Hindalga, where criminals flourish

Belagavi: Herding notorious criminals under one roof is not always a good idea. The Hindalga Central Prison, where several are lodged, has become a meeting point for many, who connive and plot their next moves from behind its bars.

The latest entrants are the six sharpshooters hired by gangster Ravi Pujari to free his associate, Dinesh Shetty from Hindalga. Although they failed in their attempt,  the government has once again created a stage for them to connive with him by lodging them in the same prison. Despite being aware of their dreaded criminal history, it has herded all of them into Hindalga where they can gang up and hatch their future criminal acts.

Although the Prison's Department hopes to split the  sharpshooters by dumping them in different jails, they have had ample opportunity to plot their next move at Hindalga already.

It is  said that Dinesh Shetty managed to shift from Mysuru jail to Hindalga a few months ago as he knew of the liberties he could enjoy as an inmate here. The prison already has a history of criminals operating from its cells.  Some like Bacha Khan, a sharpshooter of underworld don, Chhota Rajan,  operated their networks from the prison.  Khan threatened a builder in Mumbai on phone from Hindalga and later ordered his men to attack the man when he failed to pay a ransom.

Although  aware of the liberties inmates have enjoyed in Hindalga prison over the last several years, the government continues to send  more of them to it. Currently besides five accomplices of dreaded forest brigand, Veerappan,  and rapist Umesh Reddy , several other criminals on  death row are  lodged under one roof in the prison, creating more opportunity for them to direct crime outside its walls.