Soon, prisoner records to be a click away in Maharashtra

Soon, details of criminal cases of undertrials and convicts in all jails in the state will be available at just a mouse click away. The state prisons department has decided to digitise records of all 43 jails in the state.

Personal details of the 25,000-odd prisoners lodged in the prisons, including information such as conduct in jail, past criminal cases, current status and details of court proceedings will be computerised. It will include family details and addresses of prisoners.

Additional director general of police and inspector general of state, prisons, Meera Chadha Borwankar told dna, “The state prisons department is computerising all 43 jails of the state. We will computerise prisoners’ visits, criminals records, parole and other details.”

The state prisons officials said the computerlisation will definitely help the police and various agencies in investigations.

A senior officer of the state prisons department, on condition of anonymity, told dna, “In 2011, the Union home ministry made a list of fugitive terrorists and sent it to Pakistan. Later, it was found that one of the listed terrorists was locked up in Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail. Such things would not happen in the future.”

Deputy inspector general (western region) Rajendra Dhamne of state prisons told dna, “This project will make managing the jail simpler and more effective. It has been started in all jails in the state and will soon be in operation in the next couple of months. Besides, computerising the data related to prisoners will help save a lot of man-hours.”

Dhamne said the project will help them classify undertrials as per the gravity of the crimes they have committed.

The state has nine central jails including Yerawada Jail and four open jails. There are also 23 Class I and seven Class II jails that are set up area-wise and house local convicts and undertrials.