Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday decided to make available drones and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in all Punjab prisons to strengthen the jail security.

The new security apparatus was among the measures announced by the CM at a high-level meeting held here to review the prison security system. He also decided on sending Punjab Police intelligence officials on deputation to the jails department to assist the staff in collecting intelligence that might be vital to ensuring fool-proof security in jails.

Amarinder asked the jails department to formulate a strategy to segregate undertrial gangsters and radicals from other prisoners, possibly by shifting them out to other jails outside the state. The proposal is aimed at preventing radicalisation and planning of terrorist/gangster/ criminal activities from jails, according to an official release.

The CM also directed the deputy commissioners to visit the prisons in their respective districts once a month to ensure proper monitoring of the security arrangements and welfare measures. The CM took serious note of the recent incidents of murder of the main accused in the Bargari sacrilege case in Nabha as well as a rioting in Ludhiana jail.

Another decision was to fill all the 700 vacant posts of jail wardens without delay. He directed the officials to make physical tests and minimum criteria of physique mandatory for recruitment of wardens in place of the existing practice of holding only written tests. Also, the department was asked to review the prisons manual.

First Published: Jul 05, 2019 13:31 IST