The Bangalore Central Jail at Parappana Agrahara would soon have 80 more high-security cells, also known as supermax cells, to house terrorists, members of underground gangs and land mafia, State Prisons Minister A Narayanaswamy said on Wednesday.
He said the existing 80 supermax cells in Bellary Jail would be remodelled.
“Only one prisoner can be put in a supermax cell to ensure that hardcore criminals, terrorists, underworld gangs and land mafias do not mix with other prisoners,” he said.
The Bangalore Central Jail already has 120 high-security cells.
The additional 80 cells will be built at a cost of ` 2 crore.
Narayanaswamy said in the second phase, prisons in Mysore and Belgaum would also have such cells.
The department was also taking steps to install 3G mobile phone jammers in prisons to prevent inmates from using phones, he said.
The jammers presently used are of 2G technology, and the use of phones in prisons has not been completely put to an end.
“We are looking into reports of prisoners using phones and will take appropriate action,” Narayanaswamy said.
Referring to reports of Bangalore Central Jail inmates making phone calls to Pakistan, Narayanaswamy said, “The Prisons Department officials have been asked to seek court’s permission to remove landlines on which prisoners are allowed to speak to their families.
” The landlines were installed on the premises on the recommendation of the National Human Rights Commission.
Electronic Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) would upgrade the jammers, and the department would ask the same agency to install CCTVs in the prison, Narayanaswamy said.
The minister said the Bangalore Central Jail had been overcrowded with 4,600 people being housed against its capacity of 2,200