Alarmed by last month’s twin jailbreaks in Bhopal and Punjab, the state government has started the process of fortifying all 91 prisons in the state of Bhubaneshwar.
To start with, the existing 2G signal jammers in most jails will be replaced with high power 3G and 4G cell jamming equipment to curb illegal use of mobile phones by inmates.
Additional DG (prisons) Arun Kumar Ray in a recent letter to the home department said the union cabinet secretariat (security), whose permission is mandatory for installation of mobile jammers in jails, has already given green light to the state government. Initially, the government plans to install jamming equipment in three prisons, one each at Bhubaneswar, Choudwar (Cuttack) and Berhampur.
Ray’s letter said proposals have been received from two empanelled firms – Electronics Corporation of India Ltd and Bharat Electronics Ltd– to upgrade the jamming system in jails. The Electronics Corporation of India Ltd had earlier installed 2G cell jammers in jails at Choudwar, Baripada, Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. Bharat Electronics Ltd had put in place jammers in Berhampur, Balasore and Sambalpur jails.
Installation of jamming equipment in Odisha prisons started in 2009. There have been frequent complaints of prisoners illegally using mobile phones and running crime syndicates from behind the prison walls. While the 2G jammers fail to curb the menace, many jails do not have adequate number of CCTV cameras. Police recently raided jails at different places and seized mobile phones and SIMs.
By Baishakhi Dutta
