NEW DELHI: Twelve Tihar jail officials have been suspended in three weeks for dereliction of duty and allegedly supplying prohibited items to inmates even as the facility has been rocked in recent days by a spate of cases of violence and death of prisoners.
In a report submitted yesterday to Delhi Home Minister Satyendra Jain, Tihar jail officials have said that three assistant superintendents, three head warders and six warders have been suspended by them since April 21.
The minister had sought a reply from Tihar officials on the increasing cases of violence inside the jail premises.
Two convicts, including a lifer, were found dead under mysterious circumstances inside Tihar Jail yesterday.
"Most of the officials who were suspended were supplying mobile phones, drugs and other prohibited items inside the jail. Some were charged with dereliction of duty where an inmate was found dead in his ward," a senior official said.
Jail officials said they have seized 48 mobile phones from inmates in two months. They said that chanches of smuggling of prohibited items into the jail are the greatest when an inmate goes out for a hearing or is taken for medical treatment.
"In both cases, prisoners are escorted by police force on line duty and they allegedly take money from them and supply prohibited items. Petty corruption leads to serious problems," the official said.
According to jail officials, prisoners have used metal fan blade, wire mesh, kitchen knives and even manhole covers in the many cases of violence inside the jail.
Meanwhile, jail officials said that in order to step up security at the facility, 80 more jammers are needed although there were issues over their installation due to complaints of network problem from the residents of the area.
"There are around three dozen jammers installed inside the jail. We need 80 more. As the jail is situated near a residential area, there are many complains of network issues because of the jammers. Even TRAI guidelines state that we cannot cut access to mobile services in a residential area," the official said.
Tihar officials have also demanded 1,000 additional CCTV cameras for monitoring. There are 248 cameras installed at present inside the jail premises with 233 more cameras to be soon put up.
Referring to shortcomings in the jail infrastructure, officials said, "Tihar is overcrowded and the current number of prisoners is at around 14,000. The size of the jail staff is 30 per cent less than the required number."
Jain, meanwhile, also inquired about the exact date of completion of Mandoli Jail in east Delhi which will ease over-crowding at Tihar Jail.
An undertrial was attacked by five inmates in Tihar yesterday soon after his admission into the high security prison.
Ravinder (35), an accused in several criminal cases, and brought to the jail around 8.30 pm yesterday, was attacked even as his prison admission documents were being prepared, jail officials said.
On Monday, a 40-year-old undertrial was stabbed to death allegedly by three other inmates over a personal enmity.