CHANDIGARH: Punjab to hand over the security of its four central prisons to the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in order to to keep a tab on gangs being run from within the jails to curb the smuggling of mobile phones and drugs.
Sources in the state jails department said that four companies of CRPF have arrived and are undergoing pre-induction training since November 16.
Two CRPF companies each will be deployed in Ludhiana, Kapurthala, Bathinda and Amritsar central jails with the battalion headquarters being located at Kapurthala.
“The CRPF personnel would be deployed on the premises, besides the frisking area and visitors area. They would man the watchtowers and high-security zones within the jail premises,” state jails department officials said.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had sanctioned four companies of CRPF for Punjab jails in June following a request by the state.
The Punjab government will be paying the cost of the deployment of these CRPF companies. One CRPF company has around 75 personnel.
Earlier a joint-team of the CRPF and the state jails department had carried out a survey of various jails in February this year.
Officials say notorious gangsters lodged in different jails have been operating their illegal business through mobile phones, which they manage to sneak in through prison staff and outsiders.
Even drugs are supplied, besides other prohibited material.
Two and half years back when the Congress government assumed power and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa took over as the state Jail Minister, he had received a congratulatory call from someone lodged in one of the central prisons.