BHUBANESWAR: The prisons directorate has issued guidelines to jail superintendents to strictly prevent access of contraband, including mobile phones, tobacco, liquor and marijuana to inmates. The superintendents and jailers have been asked to form secret squads and conduct surprise checks in the cells of inmates multiple times every week.
The guidelines have been issued by director general (prisons and correctional services) Santosh Upadhyay on Monday, a day after police and senior prisons officials raided some jails on Sunday and seized incriminating articles from inmates.
“No person, including the jail staff can carry mobile phones, money and other prohibited articles inside the jails. The jail staff should conduct a thorough search of the jail premises every morning and evening. The superintendents should ensure that the CCTV cameras are functional. No articles that may lead inmates to commit suicide or injure themselves should be present in jails,” said the guidelines, seen by the TOI.
The superintendents have been asked to check the high security wards and habitual offenders daily. The superintendent and jailer should collect intelligence from various sources and form confidential teams to make surprise checks in jails, read the guidelines.
Upadhyay said stringent action would be taken against jail staff if they are found having nexus a with criminals. “If any jail staff promotes smuggling of contraband inside the jails, they would be given forceful retirement,” the guidelines stated. According to the protocols, the superintendents would send weekly reports on the security systems and findings of search operations in their jails to the senior superintendents of the circle jails. The senior superintendents would send reports to the DIG (prisons).
The guidelines have been issued to streamline functioning of jails and keep tabs on criminals in the wake of the recent escape of dreaded gangster Sheikh Hyder from SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, during treatment.
The prisons directorate recently issued a circular and asked all jails to adopt all procedural protocols while taking prisoners to courts and shifting them to hospitals.