E-Paper
72 U.P. jails to come under 24x7 CCTV surveillance
DG-Prisons asks authorities to submit certificates for strict compliance of directives for continuous monitoring of “top 10 criminals” and their henchmen lodged in their respective jails.
Alarmed after the alleged nexus between prisoners and jail personnel was exposed in Chitrakoot and Bareilly jails, the UP Prisons Administration and Reform Services has ordered for round-the-clock CCTV surveillance of 72 jails and sub-jails in the state.
The move aims at ensuring continuous monitoring of “top 10 criminals” and their henchmen lodged in each jail.
Director general (DG)-Prisons Anand Kumar on Friday asked superintendents and heads of all jails to present compliance certificates within three days to ensure that CCTV cameras are installed at their respective jails. Live feed from the CCTV cameras can be accessed from the department headquarters in Lucknow.
CCTV cameras must be installed at high-security barracks, meeting halls where prisoners meet with their family members and relatives and other crucial points in jails, the order read.
Kumar also directed that instructions in the jail manual must be strictly followed when prisoners meet with their family and relatives. “Jail authorities must properly check the photo identity proofs of visitors, and should inform district police authorities if any person visits prisoners in the “top 10 list of criminals” over and over again.”
The DG added body cameras have been issued to 15 jails.
The arrest of Abbas Ansari’s wife Nikhat Ansari and her driver on February 11 exposed the nexus criminals have with local jail authorities, who allowed the former’s family members and henchmen easy access to the jails. In many cases, prisoners were allowed to operate from behind bars as well. Abbas’s wife was arrested from inside the jail and two mobile phones and food were seized from her. Her entry was not logged in the records.
A similar case surfaced at the Bareilly jail where two persons, including a jail guard, were arrested for allegedly facilitating secret meetings and providing banned materials, as well as money, to former MP Atiq Ahmad’s younger brother Khalid Azeem alias Ashraf. The police on Tuesday arrested jail canteen supplier Daya Ram alias Nanhe and guard Shiv Hari Awasthi for facilitating Ashraf’s secret meetings inside the jail premises on March 7.
Earlier on February 19, the state government had asked for the list of top 10 criminals lodged in each jail of the state. Notably, the installation and upgradation of CCTV cameras is currently underway at 30 jails.
