Hi-tech jammers for prisons in Bangalore

After it came to light that some calls from the city prison were being traced to Pakistan, the alarmed state prisons ministry has decided to upgrade jammers.

Prisons minister A Narayanaswamy told reporters on Wednesday that prison inmates’ link with Pakistan was brought to their notice by the Union government. To avoid such incidents in future, the prisons will be upgrading the jammer system in Bangalore Central Prison and other prisons in the state, he maintained.
The minister said that the 2G jammer system, currently in use in the prisons, has been found to be ineffective. Now, 3G jammer systems will be installed in jails to prevent prisoners from establishing contact with outside world. Rs7 crore has been released for the new system, he added.

Narayanaswamy said the department has asked Union government run Electronic Corporation of India (ECIL) to install 3G jammer system in Bangalore central jail. The technology has been imported from Bulgaria and its installation will be done by the next month. The decisions were taken at a high-level meeting convened by the minister, and was attended by prisons departmen secretary, ADGP and DIG of prisons.

He maintained that the department will also install CCTV cameras on Bangalore Central jail premises. “We have approached ECIL for CCTV cameras as they have installed it in Karnataka High Court. As this involves confidentiality and security, we are not going for tenders,” he added. In the first phase the new jammers will be installed in Belgaum, Bellary, Mysore and Bangalore jails. Later, it will be extended to other jails, he said.

Narayanaswamy said the prisons’ department had appealed to the court to cancel landline facilities for prisoners, as those were being misused. The facility was given to prisoners after the order from the State Human Rights Commission and courts.

When asked about notorious rowdy Bettanagere Shankara daring to talk to the media from Hindalaga jail, Narayanaswamy said they are looking into the matter.

When asked about why the officers were failing to monitor the prisoners, he said the optimum capacity of Bangalore central jail is 2,200 inmates, while currently there are 4,500. “We are taking up corrective measures, “he added.