Amritsar Central Jail gets new phone call blocking system

Tribune News Service

PK Jaiswar

Amritsar, June 8

To nail the criminal elements operating from Amritsar Central Jail premises through mobile phones, the the state government has installed a mobile signal jammer inside the high security complex.

The harmonious call blocking system would be fully operational within two days, said a jail official wishing not to be named. The system would help in blocking 2G to 5G signals, he said.

The Amritsar Central Jail has witnessed seizure of a large number of mobile phones and other prohibited material hinting at their unabated sneaking inside the premises, thanks to its close proximity to densely populated areas which allows the miscreants to throw forbidden goods including narcotics and cell phones inside the jail complex.

Though the jail authorities claimed to have taken many steps to counter miscreants lodged in the prison, it was found to be inadequate in the absence of modern technology.

Earlier, the Punjab government had also contemplated introducing geo-mapping to check smuggling of mobile phones inside the Central and sub-jails in the state after the AAP government took over. However, it could not see the light of day so far.

A jail official wishing anonymity said that earlier, mobile signal jammers could block signals of 2G or 3G mobiles, but the new tower would block the signals of 4G and 5G mobiles also. The staff would interact on walkie-talkies provided to them while internet facility would be available in the office of the Jail Superintendent. He said this would help in preventing gangsters and smugglers to operate from jail.

The Amritsar jail houses infamous gangsters, cross-border drug smugglers and foreign prisoners. The jail authorities had confiscated hundreds of mobile phones during the past one and half year while the number was just 350 in 2021.

Though a majority of mobile phones were China-made keypad phones, a number of touch screen phones of various brands were also seized. Modified/assembled mobile chargers and headphones and narcotic substances have also been seized from the Central Jail.