Convicted criminal Bannanje Raja, also known as Rajesh Kumar, reportedly made a threatening phone call from within Hindalga jail in Belgaum, aiming to extort money. The Prison Department has initiated an investigation into the incident.
Bannanje Raja was extradited to India from Morocco in 2015 on charges related to the murder of businessman R.N. Nayak in Ankola, Uttara Kannada district, in 2013. Alongside other defendants, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by a sessions court in Belgaum in 2022. Currently, he is serving his sentence at Hindalga jail.
Following a reported threat call made by convicted gangster Bannanje Raja from inside Hindalga jail in Belgaum, the Prison Department initiated action. Upon receiving the alert, the Superintendent Police and Assistant Superintendent of Police conducted a search of Raja’s cell for a mobile phone, with police wearing body cameras during the operation. Despite the search yielding no phone, prison authorities are investigating how the device was smuggled in and who facilitated its entry.
In response to the incident, the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) of Kalaburagi, responsible for overseeing Hindalga, promptly visited the prison to assess the situation. This marks the first reported case of an extortion call from Hindalga during Raja’s five-year incarceration.
Sources indicate that both Belgaum and Bengaluru Central prisons currently lack a full-time Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), raising concerns about prison security. Raja is now under surveillance following allegations of making threats using a smuggled mobile phone.
