HYDERABAD: Soon, prisoners released from prisons in the state will not be left to relapse into their old criminal habits.
Using the latest technology available, the Telangana police are preparing a comprehensive database of all prisoners _ remanded, under trial, convicted, detainees and even those released.
The concept, Jail Release Monitoring System, not new to policing in many parts of the world, vouches for a web-enabled integrating system of connecting police stations with jails across the state so as to facilitate a streamlined monitoring mechanism by making available all details concerning a prisoner at the click of a mouse.
With the full implementation of the monitoring system, the time-frame of which is unclear, a generic search would enable identification of a prisoner or a former prisoner. That apart, Aadhaar integration is a notable feature that officials are working on currently. Not just the details of the crime committed for which a person served the sentence but the system would also have information on jail stay, mulaqat, release, etc in detail.
Moreover, the moment a prisoner is released, the system will generate a real-time alert to the station house officer(SHO) of the police station in whose limits the prisoner had been arrested and also the police station limits within which he had resided before his arrest. The SHOs would thus be able to maintain complete vigilance over the criminals.
The alert, containing the crime number and other details, will also be sent to the police commissioner, deputy commissioners, assistant commissioners, central crime stations and task force teams in addition to the SHOs. An advance search, based on the name, surname, head of crime, gender, type of release, identification marks, police station concerned, mobile number, Aadhaar, ration card and driving licence numbers, voter ID and PAN card details, will make it impossible for any ex-prisoner to escape the radar of the monitoring system. A video analytics report on the age, gender, head of crime, etc too will be available.
A senior police official, on condition of anonymity, said the system was being used currently at all police stations on a pilot basis. “We will be able to understand the trends in crime with a detailed centralised statistical database,” the official said.
When asked how the system would impact the accused of terror cases and the undertrials, where their place of residence need not be here in thhis state, the official replied: “We will ensure that they do not come out of jail.”
He added, “It is an application available for all. If the police departments of other states are interested, we can integrate our system with theirs, especially to monitor criminals nation-wide who are languishing in our jails. The National Informatics Centre(NIC)-managed application can be accessed by anyone who holds a username and password.