Delhi’s Mandoli jail gets laser fencing, prisoner tracking system, advanced cameras

The jail, mandated to accommodate 3,776 prisoners, turned functional last October with the relocation of 50 inmates from the overcrowded Tihar Jail. So far, about 1,500 prisoners have already been moved to the new prison complex located in East Delhi’s Mandoli.

With laser fencing along its periphery walls, prisoner tracking system and use of advanced cameras, the new Mandoli Jail employs advanced technology to ensure security inside the prison complex.

The control centre at Mandoli jail.

The jail, mandated to accommodate 3,776 prisoners, turned functional last October with the relocation of 50 inmates from the overcrowded Tihar Jail. So far, about 1,500 prisoners have already been moved to the new prison complex located in East Delhi’s Mandoli.

But several problems faced by the Tihar Jail threaten the Mandoli Jail. The common among them are incidents of inmates’ kin flinging banned items like SIM cards, blades and tobacco products across the high walls.

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To deal with this problem at Tihar, the jail authorities have in the past came up with solutions such as putting up nets around boundary walls and police patrolling outside the premises.

“Laser fencing will ensure that any foreign object passing through the fence will sound an alarm and capture the pictures of the object. It will also rule out any chance of an inmate escaping by scaling the boundary walls,” Yadav told HT.

Talks are on with Invader Technologies Pvt Ltd, a Gurgaon-based company, to arrange for the fencing. “We are looking at a 20-foot high laser fence above the periphery walls, the total length of which should be around 1.5-2 km,” said Amit Kumar Mishra, company director.

“Laser fencing will ensure that any foreign object passing through the fence will sound an alarm and capture the pictures of the object

While this will take care of foreign objects from entering jail premises, the administration is also planning a ‘prisoner tracking system’ that will keep a track of the movement of all inmates. Electronic bracelets worn by inmates will help jail authorities fix boundaries for prisoners and check their movement.

These bracelets will first be tried on a small group of inmates at a soon-to-be-functional high security prison in Mandoli Jail before being used on all inmates, said Yadav who took over as the DG in May last year.

“It should hopefully reduce clashes among prisoners as inmates will be forced to keep within certain areas designated for them or have an alarm buzzing off if they cross it,” said Shailendra Parihar, who has been made the DIG in charge of the Mandoli Jail.

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Other security features being brought in at the jail include a facial recognition system and automatic number plate recognition cameras which will keep a track of every person and vehicle entering or leaving the jail premises.

“We are also reviewing a proposal to install special cameras that will help us track activities in the entire prison campus on a single screen and depending on which area we want to monitor. Those cameras are capable of detecting activities even in pitch darkness,” said Yadav.

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