‘IRB’s Scorpions to be deployed in jails’

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that jammers will be installed in jails in the wake of confiscation of mobile phones along with other banned items during the recent raids in Kannur and Viyyur central prisons.
Replying to a submission by Congress MLA K C Joseph in the assembly on Wednesday, Vijayan said the raids conducted by DGP (prisons) Rishiraj Singh was as per the direction of the government “after receiving information about illegal practices” inside the prisons. “Criminal cases will be registered against prisoners from whom the contrabands were seized,” Vijayan said.
The chief minister said ‘Scorpions’ from the Indian Reserve Battalion will be deployed for security check of prisoners. “Possibly, contrabands reach jails through remand prisoners who return after trials in various courts. Currently, there’s a team of police personnel from KAP (Kerala Armed Police) at the jail checkpoint, who will be now be replaced by the Scorpions,” he said.
Vijayan said some prisoners were already shifted to other jails and that action was taken against jail officials found responsible. “For ensuring security in jails and for formulating a guideline for jail officials, a four-member committee headed by Justice (retd) C N Ramachandran Nair has been formed. The committee will examine the security measures to be followed while prisoners are taken out for trials in courts and the possibility of making use of video conferencing for facilitating interactions between prisoners and their advocates.”
“The video conferencing system linking jails and courts will come in force in three months’ time, for which an amount of Rs 2.13 crore has been earmarked. Measures have also been taken to repair the faulty CCTV cameras inside jails and make them functional,” he said.
He also said that the government was considering a proposal for establishing deaddiction centres inside the jails, along with various other activities to fight alcoholism and drug abuse among prisoners.