The Haryana Government has not learnt any lessons from a sensational jailbreak incident which took place in Nabha jail in Punjab’s Patiala district last year.
It is quite shocking but true that the security measures at Bhondsi Jail in the district have not been beefed up yet. At present, the Bhondsi Jail holds 2,095 inmates including 60 women prisoners.
The jail has a total strength of 150 personnel and out of which 100 to 110 are available in the premises while the rest work in the court and escort inmates for their appearances in the district court. According to a jail official, around 25 to 30 staff look after the inmates in shifts while 15 personnel man outer layer security of the prison.
Similarly, only 12 women constables are available for the female inmates. Jail staff is also supposed to mark the attendance of each and every prisoner twice in a day. In order to complete this process they are supposed to go for the head count and that consumes lot of time and manpower, the official added.
“We are facing staff crunch at the jail. The staff members in the jail work in shifts. We have written to the concerned authorities seeking additional staff,” a senior official with the jail administration said.
“It is not possible to check each and every barrack or inmate with this much staff strength”, the official added.
“The Haryana Government has allocated Rs 10 crore to install cameras all over the State Jail premises. Installation of the CCTV cameras will be complete in one year,” the official added. Moreover, the Bhondsi jail has few CCTV cameras in the premises. At present the cameras are installed at the main entry gate, office premises and checking point etc.
“Also we have written a letter to the senior officials of Gurugram police to change the locations of some Gangsters and gangs who are currently lodged in the Bhondsi Jail. Several members of blood thirsty rival gangs are lodged together and this has been a major concern for us. We are on our toes to prevent any gang war inside the jail premises,” he said.
Recently Gurugram police has arrested slain gangster Sandeep Gadoli’s brother and four of his sharpshooters who are now lodged in the jail along with members of rival Binder Gujjar’s gang.
According to the police, around 10 members each of the rival gangs are lodged in Bhondsi jail at present. Of these, about seven to eight gangsters groups have been identified as trouble makers.
Apart from this, gangsters from Jhajjar, Rohtak, Bhiwani and Bahadurgarh are also lodged in Bhondsi Jail. “We followed every security norms in the jail. We have given strict instruction to the staff to be alert and inform immediately if they notice something amiss,” Deputy Jail Superintendent, Devi Dayal Tanwar said.