Newly-appointed Uttarakhand Jail IG, PVK Prasad has said that he would do everything to break the nexus between the jail inmates and a section of jail officials in several jails in the State.
It is my priority, he averred. His assurance is significant in view of the two incidents-at Roorkee and Baghpat-of gangsters having thrown dare to police, have happened, thanks to a section of the jail officials being in collusion with the hardened jail birds.
Prasad further said, CCTV camera and jammer would be installed in the jail campus. Prasad assumed charge on Friday after his predecessor Vinod Sharma was relieved in the wake of the infamous Bhura escapade.
Prasad said that taking lessons from the two incidents, police are taking course correction to stop such incidents from recurring. Police had conducted an internal inquiry and reportedly, it was found that Sunil Rathi, a notorious gangster, had hatched the conspiracy to bump off his rival Cheenu Pandit right from his cell in Roorkie jail.
The shootout occurred outside Roorkee sub-jail in August this year, resulting in three deaths. Pandit was unhurt though. In the recent infamous case of police suffering ignominy after Rathi's henchman, Bharu escaped in Baghpat, giving the escorting security personnel a slip, the internal probe is reported to have established that Bhura had planed things in their details from his cell in Dehradun jail.
Police have recovered battery, mobile phone, charger and torn maps of Baghpat in the jail campus. The probe reports are clear on one point that such things would not have been possible without the collusion between inmates and a section of the jail employees.
Taking note of what seems obvious; the newly appointed IG Jail said, steps will be taken to plug the loopholes. Jail officials found negligent in duties will be adequately punished, he added.
IG Prasad further said apart from smashing the nexus, they would stress on re-jigging the jail infrastructure to make it impossible for the criminals to take any liberty for mischief. For this, we would soon send proposals to the State Government, he added.
Commenting on the State Government having finally given the post of IG jail to an IPS officer, State DGP BS Sidhu said that this is a good development. The post being given to an IPS officer would result in the jail administration being better managed. Police officers are dealing with the criminals since the day one of their service, he said.
It is pertinent to mention here that the post of IG jail had so long remained an exclusive domain of the IAS officers. Yesterday's order to sack Sharma and bring in Prasad, an IPS, marked the rupture in the tradition going on since Uttarakhand came up in 2000.