High-risk prisoners to get a safer jail in Delhi

NEW DELHI: India’s first prison designed to lodge high-risk prisoners, with facilities at par with jails in western countries, is all set to open at the Mandoli jail complex in east Delhi next week. Jail officials said that the high-security prison will have more than 200 cells arranged in a way to prevent prisoners from coming into contact with each other and thus prevent groupism and gang activities.

Tihar Jail currently has 134 high-risk inmates, including gangsters like Neeraj Bawana and Chhota Rajan. They will be shifted to the new prison. Sources said that the multilevel prison building will have 20-25 cells on each floor. The high-security cells will be monitored by a CCTV camera and will have heavy doors that will be opened using automatic systems that are operated from a control centre. The cells will be cooled with natural air and powered by solar lights put up outside these rooms.




“We will be providing modern facilities to the inmates to make them feel at home even within the jail complex,” said Raj Kumar, additional inspector general (prisons). “There will be provisions for recreational and skill development facilities to allow inmates to engage in training and use their new knowledge in a constructive manner when they leave the prison.”

The new complex will be inaugurated by Delhi home minister Satyendar Jain on Monday. Care has been taken to ensure minimal contact among the high-risk prisoners. Jail officials said that the prisoners will be kept in separate cells and each housed individually away from associates. In the present system, prisoners are grouped according to their gang affiliations and kept under constant watch to prevent mischief in their barracks. The timings for allowing them outside their barracks are also adjusted to prevent clashes and other violent incidents.

Apart from the high-risk units, the revamped jail will have five other buildings, including a separate facility for women prisoners.

The new complex will have a capacity to hold 3,776 prisoners at a time. So far, around 1,500 prisoners have been shifted to the jail from Tihar. The complex will also have a set of powerful CCTV cameras that are capable of putting the jail and its compound under scrutiny even in pitch darkness. The building meant for women inmates will have a separate monitoring system manned by women staff.

The jail complex will be secured with laser fences along the periphery wall, bolstered by a camera-based prisoner tracking system. Jail sources said that security along the periphery would be additionally tightened to prevent incidents of inmates receiving materials such as tobacco and prohibited objects from outsiders.