Indian jails also breed terrorists, says Maria

Terrorists are born not just on foreign soil but even in Indian jails, the Mumbai Crime Branch has claimed.

“We have come across instances of youths arrested for petty offences being indoctrinated in jihad inside the jails,” joint commissioner of police (crime), Rakesh Maria, said. “The youths later joined terror outfits.”

It is very easy for terrorists lodged in jails to indoctrinate youths, a Crime Branch official said on the condition of anonymity. “In jails, criminals can easily be brainwashed by the terrorists,” the official said. “But it is a difficult task to obtain information about people brainwashing the youths.”

The informers’ network of the police also does not help much in combating terrorism, Maria said. “It is easy to get information about gangsters from informants, but not about those who are part of terror groups,” he said. “The task is even more difficult now, as more and more people with white-collared jobs, like doctors, engineers and IT professionals, are also getting involved with terror outfits.”

Prison officials, however, said they are unaware of any indoctrination happening inside their jails.

“After a high court order, petty offenders are not kept in jail for more than a week,” Swati Sathe, superintendent of police, Arthur Road Jail, said. “There has been no specific information from the Crime Branch about people being indoctrinated in our jail. We will certainly look into it if we are given specific inputs,” she said.