Yogi govt steps up surveillance in 72 jails and sub-jails in Uttar Pradesh

Prison officials have been asked not to allow anything inside jails apart from items prescribed in the Jail Manual

December 1, 2022

After Tihar jail ‘massage’ video, UP intensifies vigil on VVIP prisoners

Amid several videos of jailed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Delhi minister Satyendra Jain in Tihar jail surface at a regular frequency, the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has decided to intensify surveillance of VVIP prisoners lodged in the state jails.

According to official sources, a round-the-clock video vigil has been stepped up across all 72 jails and sub-jails in the state. These include Naini Central Jail, Lucknow jail, Gautam Buddha Nagar jail, and other jails where notorious criminals, terror suspects, former ministers, and other VVIPs are lodged.

Officials at prison administration and reform services headquarters stated that directions have been issued for intensifying monitoring in prisons across the state. Prison officials have been asked not to allow anything inside jails apart from items prescribed in the Jail Manual.

The government spokesman said, “Prison officials have been asked to maintain a list of politicians, bureaucrats, mafias, dreaded gangsters and terror suspects lodged in their jails and intensify vigil on their activities to ensure that no special facility is provided to them.”

The murder of jailed gangster Munna Bajrangi by another gangster Sunil Rathi in July 2018 and the killing of three gangsters during a shootout in Chitrakoot Jail on May 2021 are examples of criminals continuing their activities inside the jails.

A businessman was kidnapped by Atiq Ahmad‘s henchmen and taken to the Deoria Jail, where he was tortured in April 2019.

Besides, videos of inmates partying, consuming liquor, and making extortion calls from inside jails have also gone viral in the past.

Jailor Rajendra Singh said that in Lucknow jail, several VVIPs, including former cabinet minister Gayatri Prajapati, gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad’s son Umar, gangster Sanjeev Maheshwari, police personnel accused in many cases, over 24 activists of Popular Front of India and five Pakistani terror accused are lodged in the district jail that houses around 3,500 prisoners.

Earlier, five district jails, including Lucknow, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Azamgarh, Chitrakoot, and Bareilly, had already been equipped with advanced facilities to keep 24×7 surveillance.

Arrangements ranging from drone cameras to deep search metal detectors have been installed in these prisons, said the government spokesman.

“In addition to it, night-vision binoculars and hand-held metal detectors have been provided to these five prisons,” he added. He further stated that 48 additional high-megapixel CCTV cameras have been installed in the district prison of Lucknow.

“Live feed of all district prisons can be accessed at the headquarters. FG-1 pole metal detection system has been installed in all prisons to monitor detainees,” added the spokesman.

[With Inputs from IANS]

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