Overcrowding becomes a headache for jail officials

The Punjab Government’s ongoing crackdown against illicit drug trafficking and putting behind bars a large number of smugglers to check the menace of drug abuse has only caused a headache for the Amritsar Central Jail authorities as the jail is already packed to capacity.

The Central Jail was already overcrowded and arrest of more and more persons in the past month has only aggravated the problem of the jail authorities. Against a capacity to accommodate 2,200 prisoners, the number has crossed the 4100 mark.

As a result, the jail authorities have stopped the intake of new prisoners and they are being shifted to Goindwal Sahib jail, which is over 50 km from here, putting extra burden on the cops.

“We have stopped taking new admissions of prisoners since April 1 and they are being shifted to Goindwal jail,” said Hemant Sharma, Superintendent Jail, while talking to The Tribune. He said they had informed the authorities concerned about the arrangement.

As per the recent data, during the anti-drug campaign in the past month, as many as 493 drug peddlers were arrested by the police. The city police have nabbed 237 drug peddlers while the Amritsar rural police have arrested 256 smugglers since March 1.

In addition of drug peddlers, the police have also put snatchers, robbers and criminals wanted in other heinous crimes behind bars. Around 10 to 15 inmates were being released on bail.

A jail official wishing not to be named said keeping them together in the same barracks with other criminals would have the danger of new drug modules. Moreover, the jail administration is already struggling with the shortage of manpower for the management of such a huge number of inmates.