A boom barrier will also be installed at the main entrance of the jail. (File Photo)AMIDST REPORTS of possible terrorist attacks on certain jails in Punjab, the Model Jail, Burail administration has started taking safety measures to make jail security full proof.
The administration has decided to install at least 45 high resolution CCTV cameras alongside the entire boundary wall of the jail, spreading over 14 acres of land. There is also a plan to install Under Vehicle Security System (UVSS) which is capable of detecting hidden substances on the surface of a vehicle stationed or moving with a speed of 30 kmph. There are a few jails in the country which currently have the facility of UVSS. The UVSS system contains a camera along with an automatic registration number recording system.
Besides these, a boom barrier with a capacity to stop a 9 tonne vehicle coming at a high speed will be installed at the entry of the main premises of the jail. Currently, a multilayered iron barrier exists at the entry.
The administration has flouted tenders for procurement of the CCTV cameras and UVSS, and will initiate the process to procure boom barriers in coming days. Home Secretary, UT, Nitin Yadav, has given the approval for the same. The jail administration has invited firms through Government E Marketplace (GeM).
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βThe CCTV cameras will cost around Rs 22-23 lakh. The UASS will cost around Rs 43 lakh. Shortly, tenders will be flouted for boom barriers also. We have expedited the process of procuring these systems after the recovery of RDX from the rear side boundary wall of the jail,β a prison officer requesting anonymity said. A series of meetings took place after the recovery of RDX under the supervision of IG (prisons) Deepak Purohit.
The only jail in Chandigarh which witnessed a sensational jail break in January, 2004, was in the headlines again when an RDX packed tiffin bomb like object was found abandoned near the boundary wall on May 9, this year.
In 2004, three Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) ultras along with a murder convict had escaped from the jail after digging a 98 feet long tunnel. Later, the three BKI ultras were arrested but the murder convict Devi Singh is still at large.
Mobile phone with active SIM
The jail administration is yet to conclude how the inmate Manjeet lodged in barrack number 12 was in possession of a mobile phone with an active SIM, inside the jail.
The cell phone and SIM were seized. Sources said IG Purohit had received information about that Manjeet, facing many murder cases, was in possession of a cell phone inside the jail. Purohit appointed three officers to check and the phone was recovered.
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