For the next 18 months the police were not able to find the Kelly gang. They punished anyone they thought might be helping the gang. More than 20 people were locked up in the Beechworth Prison for three months only because they were said to be friends of the gang. None of these people were ever charged with a crime. The government thought the Kelly gang might try and free their friends, so they put up large iron gates on the entrance to the prison.