Punjab decides to deploy drones over jail, mulls shifting gangsters to prisons out of state

The Punjab government Thursday decided to deploy drones over jails and examine the feasibility of shifting undertrial gangsters and radicals to jails outside the state to strengthen prison security. The state government proposed a host of measures aimed at improving prison security in the wake of the murder of an inmate in Nabha jail and outbreak of violence in Ludhiana jail, triggering an Opposition's onslaught against the government over the alleged breakdown of law and order in state prisons.

Reviewing prison security in the state, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh also decided to post intelligence officials of Punjab police in jails to gather intelligence of prisoners' activities to ensure fool-proof prison security. The chief minister also gave his nod for filling 700 vacant posts of jail warders in the state.

The decisions came days after Nabha jail inmate Mohinder Pal Bittu, a Dera Sacha Sauda follower and key accused in the four-year-old sacrilege case in Bargari, was killed inside the jail in Patiala by two inmates. In another incident, violence had broken out in Ludhiana central jail last month, leading to the killing of a jail inmate and injuries to 35 others.

The two incidents have given ammunition to the opposition parties with the Akali Dal demanding to sack of Jails minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa for the "complete breakdown of law and order in state prisons". Taking serious note of the two incidents, the chief minister said drones and CCTV cameras will be made available to all Punjab prisons as part of measures to tighten the prison security, said the state government in a statement.

Chief Minister Singh also decided to post Punjab police's intelligence officials in Jails Department on deputation to assist the staff in collecting intelligence to avert security breaches in jails, the statement added. The chief minister also asked the Jails Department to formulate a comprehensive strategy to segregate undertrial gangsters and radicals from other prisoners, possibly by shifting them to jails outside the state.

The proposal was aimed at preventing radicalization and planning of terror and other criminal activities from jails, the release said. The chief minister also directed the deputy commissioners to visit prisons in their respective districts once a month to ensure proper monitoring of the security arrangements and implementation of welfare measures there.

The deputy commissioners have been asked to make a personal inspection to identify lacunae, if any, in the security apparatus and ensure that the same is plugged without delay. The chief minister also directed making physical tests with minimum physique criteria mandatory for recruitment of warders, in place of the existing practice of holding only written tests for them.

Amarinder Singh also instructed the Jails Department to review the prisons manual and make suitable amendments to make parole difficult for prisoners found creating problems during their stay in jails. Citing the approval given by Union Home Minister Amit Shah during their recent meeting for deputing four CRPF companies in exchange of the IRB, the chief minister ordered modalities for the same to be worked out at the earliest.

He directed that the CRPF companies be posted on jail duty as soon as possible. Taking cognizance of complaints about involvement of some employees in smuggling of mobile phones etc into the prisons, Amarinder Singh also ordered that all such personnel deployed at jails be scrutinized.

The chief minister also approved a proposal for establishing a new prison in Mohali to ease congestion and overcrowding in jails.