To prevent jailbreaks and escape bids by inmates, the Punjab prisons department has decided to fortify perimeter walls of its facilities with electric fences.

The Punjab prisons department has already prepared a detailed project report in this regard, which has also been given a go-ahead by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh in the July 4 meeting chaired by him on jails reforms, an official privy to the development said.

In this meeting, the chief minister reviewed the security inside state jails in the wake of recent violence at Ludhiana Central Jail in which one inmate was killed in police action launched to control the unruly inmates.

The prisoners had clashed with the police and set furniture and other material on fire while protesting against the death of a fellow inmate.

During the violence, two inmates had tried to escape but they were nabbed by the jail staff posted along the wall.

“Electric fences will first be installed on the jail perimeter which will cost around Rs 10 crore. We have identified 10 jails in the first phase where Rs 1 crore each will be spent on electric fencing. The government has already sanctioned this money and we are in the process of making a plan as how to implement the project,” additional director general of police (ADGP), prisons, Rohit Chaudhary, said.

The older jails, such as in Ludhiana, Sangrur and Hoshiarpur, will be given preference in installing the electric fence. The charged wires will not be lifethreatening but will serve as a potent deterrent against bid to escape, said a department official.

To fortify the sensitive jails with electric fence was one of the suggestions given by ADGP Chaudhary-led committee formed during the previous SAD-BJP government in order to give recommendations to strengthen security in jails after the Nabha Jailbreak of 2016 in which gangsters from outside had managed to free six dreaded prisoners from the maximum security jail.

However, due to paucity of funds, the proposal, along with many other recommendations, remained on papers only.

Apart from installing the electric fence, the government officials said the department was also mulling to install motion sensors along the main walls of the jails.

These censors will not only alert the jail authorities when someone will try to cross over the wall but can also detect projectiles being thrown onto the jail premises.

State to get four CRPF companies

Punjab government has recently got sanction for four Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) companies instead of three, the order for which was received by the state on June 26.

These CRPF men, 100 each in a company, will be deployed at entry gates and outside special cells for dreaded criminals.

The Punjab government has convinced the Centre to provide CRPF companies in an arrangement in which Punjab will keep similar number of police force from Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) at the disposal of the Centre.

As per an official, the Centre earlier had sought Rs 21 crore in lieu of services of the CRPF to guard Punjab jails.

After the chief minister met the Union home minister, the Centre softened its stand and agreed to take services of the IRB instead of charging the state.

After the Ludhiana jail violence, the Punjab government has already announced to have drones and CCTV cameras in all prisons.

First Published: Jul 10, 2019 12:05 IST