AMRITSAR : The recovery of 70 mobile phones from the Amritsar Central Jail past 10 days has exposed security chinks in the high-security prison.
Besides mobile phones, the jail authorities have been recovering other banned items, including cigarettes and tobacco, from inmates.
Officials cite foggy weather as one of the reasons behind the illegal activity. “Taking advantage of low visibility, miscreants throw mobile phones and other banned items inside the jail,” said a senior jail official, who didn’t wish to be named.
The high-security prison remained in the news due several jailbreak incidents and running of drug and weapons smuggling rackets by some inmates in the past a few years.
In July last year, the state government had appointed Border Security Force (BSF) officials as superintendents of five high-security jails of Punjab, including Amritsar jail. The Amritsar jail is among a few other jails of the state being guarded by the battalions of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
“The rear outer wall of the jail is attached with a farm land. There is no way along the wall for patrolling or deployment of security guards. Miscreants have been using this wall for throwing of mobile phones inside the jail,” said another official.
Overcrowding of inmates and lack of staff are other reasons behind the poor implementation of the security in the jail. “We have around 3,300 inmates against the capacity of 2,200. The prison is working with around 70% of the sanctioned staff strength. Overcrowding and inadequate staff is another hurdle in protecting the jail,” one of the officials said.
{{/usCountry}}Overcrowding of inmates and lack of staff are other reasons behind the poor implementation of the security in the jail. “We have around 3,300 inmates against the capacity of 2,200. The prison is working with around 70% of the sanctioned staff strength. Overcrowding and inadequate staff is another hurdle in protecting the jail,” one of the officials said.
{{/usCountry}}Around two weeks ago, the prison had shifted around 100 inmates to the newly constructed Goindwal Central Jail in Tarn Taran. The officials of Amritsar jail said more inmates should be shifted in the new jail to decongest the high-security prison. They said the surging cases of Covid-19 can also impact the inmates’ health in the coming days.
Jail superintendent Surinder Singh said he took the charge on January 1. “We have launched a special drive to clean the prison. The inmates who are being caught with mobile phones are being handed over to the local police for their further interrogation,” he said.
He said there is no possibility of bringing any banned item inside the jail from the main entrance.
On Saturday, as many as 16 inmates were booked after 17 mobile phones, five chargers and a headphone were recovered on the jail premises.