Tihar jail to be under CCTV vigil, 24X7

Tihar Jail’s 175 barracks, housing 11,500 inmates across a 400-acre campus, will soon be under round-the-clock surveillance of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.

Tihar Jail’s 175 barracks, housing 11,500 inmates across a 400-acre campus, will soon be under round-the-clock surveillance of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.

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Director General (prisons) BK Gupta said 221 CCTV cameras will be installed by June as part of a project across 140 barracks. “Once these 221 CCTV cameras are installed, the entire jail will come under scanner,” he said.

The jail has 249 CCTV cameras that cover portions of the jail, including a few high security wards. Besides 35 of the 175 barracks, residential units meant for convicted and undertrial inmates are being watched by these 249 CCTV cameras, said a jail source.

The jail has built a central control room that tracks visuals from the CCTV cameras. The control room is manned by at least two jail officials round through the days and nights.