Criminal activities go on unabated at Central Jail

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 4

There seems to be no end to unlawful activities being carried out inside the Bathinda Central Jail. In a search operation carried out at the Central Jail, which is mostly in the news for the wrong reasons, six more mobile phones have been recovered from inside the jail after the firing incident and recovery of three mobile phones from the inmates in the last 15 days.

The jail superintendent, in a written complainant filed at the Civil Lines police station, has stated that on suspicion, jail authorities had launch a search operation inside the central jail. During the operation, six mobile phones have been recovered near barrack number 1 inside the jail.

A case in this regard has been registered under Section 188 against unidentified persons at the Civil Lines police station.

Investigating officer, head constable Jagjit Singh said on the basis of the complaint filed by the jail superintendent, they have registered a case and now they would investigate the matter.

The Central Jail has been in news for wrong reasons for more than one month after the jail inmates uploaded photos on their Facebook account clicked with their mobile phones from inside the central jail in March.

On April 16, notorious criminal Kulbir Naruana opened fire with a country-made pistol on jail inmate Gurdeep Singh inside the jail, which rocked the whole department.

Three days later, on April 19, four prisoners were booked for demolishing a portion of a toilet wall in one of the barracks and then attacking the security men.

The jail authorities conducted a search drive in the jail on April 19 and found two mobile phones from the inmates Manoj Kumar and Amrik Singh.

A mobile phone was recovered from a jail inmate identified as Lakhvir Singh alias Lakhu, a resident of Dialpura, on the night of April 28.

In yet another incident of brawl at the Central Jail, a jail inmate was beaten up by four undertrials and the SMO on duty in the jail hospital was manhandled on May 3. The reason behind the issue was that the undertrials had demanded habit-forming drugs.

All these incidents have raised a question mark over the security lapses inside the Central Jail.

Such incidents are on the rise in all prisons across the state. Mobile phones help criminals in threatening witnesses, besides planning escape from the jail. Sometimes, they also extort money while staying at the jail.

A source inside the Central Jail said in many cases, relatives of prisoners provide mobile phones to the inmates during their hearing in court. Similarly, narcotic substances and other communication devices reach jails hidden in construction material such as cement bags and bricks.

Mobile phones and narcotics have also been found in the food that they receive from their kin. Notably, the state government had decided to install jammers in all jails but the project has yet not started due to absence of funds. About Rs 4 crore was earmarked to provide modern communication devices to the jail staff in 2012.