Security arrangements in Central Jail under scanner

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, March 18

Security arrangements at the Bathinda Central Jail have again come under the scanner with the seizure of drugs and mobile phones from the jail inmates.

In a complaint lodged by officials of the jail department, they said on checking a jail inmate Karamjit Singh, a resident of Bilaspur, 130 drug tablets and a mobile phone were seized from him.

Earlier, while searching an inmate, Anil Jain, a resident of Ludhiana, they recovered two MI and Samsung touch screen phones. Apart from this, even two Samsung phones had been recovered from the jail.

Acting on the complaint, the police have registered a case under Section 188 of the IPC and Section 52 of the Jail Manual Act against both the jail inmates at the cantonment police station.

It is pertinent to mention that many mobile phones have been seized from jail inmates in the recent past, which has raised a question mark over the functioning of the jail department.

Sources said the police officials were aware of the presence of mobile phones in the jail. The authorities tapped phone calls of inmates to get important information. However, inmates have now started making use of WhatsApp calls, which is untraceable.

In the past two years, more than 80 mobile phones with SIM cards were seized from different barracks of the jail and cases registered at the Nathana police station.

The sources inside the Central Jail said in many cases, relatives of prisoners provided mobile phones to inmates during their hearing in the court.

On the other hand, the project to fit a jammer at the Central Jail to control the usage of mobile phones by inmates is still on paper due to lack of funds.