Punjab minister promises to free jails of mobile phones in 6 months

Punjab jail minister Harjot Bains, who inspected the Faridkot and Bathinda prisons, also gave directions to the officials to conduct checking of gangsters and classified prisoners daily

With the probe into the murder of singer-politician Sidhu Moose Wala pointing to a nexus of dreaded gangsters running their operations from behind the bars, Punjab jail minister Harjot Bains on Saturday sought six months to make all prisons in the state free of mobile phones.

The probe into the murder of singer-politician Sidhu Moose Wala has pointed to a nexus of dreaded gangsters running their operations from jails in Punjab. (HT File Photo)

Bains, who inspected the Faridkot and Bathinda central jails on Saturday, also gave directions to prison officials to conduct checking of jailed gangsters and classified prisoners daily.

“We are working on it; give us six months and we will make jails mobile phones mukt (free),” said Bains, adding that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has promised the people that it would end the menace.

He said jammers are being installed where they were not present and those that developed glitches are being rectified. “Since the AAP has taken over, a record number of recoveries of mobile phones has been reported from jails. More than 1,000 mobile phones have been recovered followed by legal action,” he said.

Citing the example of the Faridkot jail, the minister said that after an incident of a video call being made by a prisoner surfaced, the jail superintendent was suspended. “CCTV cameras will be installed in the Faridkot jail, and its high-security barrack will be turned into a dark zone by completely blocking all signals,” he said.