In the aftermath of the sensational Nabha jailbreak incident, security was heightened at Asia’s largest prison Tihar which houses hardcore terrorists and other high-profile inmates — including 17 Pakistani prisoners and two hardcore Khalistani terrorists Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjit Singh Bheora of Babbar Khalsa International.

DIG Mukesh Prasad  said, “Following the high alert in the Capital, the security of the jail has been increased by several notches. No risk will be taken as far as the security of the inmates and the prison is concerned.” .

“The security of inmates, including undertrials and convicts, remains our priority. Security has been enhanced and tight vigil is being kept on every movement within and outside the jail,” a jail official told The Pioneer on the condition of anonymity.

Ten armed miscreants attacked high-security Nabha Jail on Sunday morning. Dreaded Khalistan liberation Force (KlF) chief Harminder Singh and five other gangsters escape from the jail raising questions of the security of the prisons across the country.

According to the senior Tihar Jail officials, patrolling has been increased multiple times and the security force deployed at the main gate has been instructed to carry out strict vigil and thorough checking of any visitor, including police official of the city police force. Security personnel manning the watch towers have been sensitised to keep tabs on any suspicious movement in and around the jail premises, and immediately alert security personnel manning access control of jail gates.

Sharing security measures at place on jail complex, the official said there is a four layer security arrangement with specific tasks to those on the ground security. Barricades have been erected on the roads leading to the jail gates and armed security personnel have been deployed to ensure no untoward incident like the Bhopal and Nabha jailbreak takes place in the Delhi jail, he added.

The official further said that since a lot of high profile prisoners are in the Tihar jail, round-the-clock patrolling and frisking at the entry and exit of the jail is maintained. As a precautionary measure, the number of personnel of Tamil Nadu Special Police (TSP) forces has been increased and watch has been mounted in and around the cells of high security prisoners, sources at Tihar said.

The last jailbreak witnessed by Tihar Jail was in June 2015, when two prisoners Faizan and Javed had allegedly attempted to escape from the jail by digging a ten foot tunnel and by trying to break free through a sewer tunnel. Emulating the movie The Shawshank Redemption, the two were later caught in front of the sewer tunnel from where the police apprehended Faizan while Javed allegedly managed to escape.

A senior Delhi Police official said that men and officers of the 3rd battalion of Delhi Armed Police have been asked to be vigilant when the jail gates are opened on Monday morning to ferry under trials to different city courts. The security of the jail vans and buses has been beefed up and strict watch will be maintained on their activities till they are produced in the court and then brought back to the jail, the official added.