GUWAHATI: Dibrugarh Central Jail has a unique record. There has not been even a single incident of jailbreak in this 164-year-old prison in Assam. The location of this high-security prison, now hogging headlines for lodging radical preacher Amritpal Singh of Punjab and nine of his aides, is also distinctive.
Mighty Brahmaputra acts as a natural moat on one side, and a police reserve in the vicinity as a barrier. Dibrugarh is at the end of the Northeast.
There is only one route – a road – to escape to the mainland. Of its ‘scary’ record of jailbreak, the prison invokes fear among inmates. Another factor that frightens them is the stories about a jailor called Debeswar Neog. In the mid-1970s, even at the thought of facing Neog, who is called the strictest ever jailor at this prison.
“One jailor that the people of Dibrugarh talk about to this day is Debeswar Neog. He served here from 1974-77,” Dibrugarh MLA Prasanta Phukan told this newspaper sharing the anecdote. “He was very strict and the prisoners shuddered with fear at his sight,” the BJP leader, born and brought up in this upper Assam town, added.
The jail was established in 1859-60. Those days, the British gave a lot of importance to Dibrugarh among places in upper Assam. Phukan said one reason why the British preferred this town was that it had a river port. He said the prisoners serving life-term grow organic vegetables within the jail compound. The jail still has some manufacturing units. The prisoners make soap, bamboo, cane stools, etc. Assam has six central jails. The authorities did not reveal why they chose the one in tea and oil-rich Dibrugarh to house Amritpal and his aides.
When asked about it, Director General of Police G P Singh told this newspaper, “You would have asked this question for any jail that he (Amritpal) would have been kept in. Isn’t it?” Phukan said a reason could be that it is a highly secured jail with all facilities. “The airport is only 15 km away. A road bisects the civil court and the jail. It is very easy to take prisoners to and from the court. Then, Dibrugarh is at the end of Northeast. There is only one route – a road – to escape to mainland. Possibly, these are reasons why they have been kept here,” Phukan said.
The Dibrugarh jail is Assam’s second oldest prison after the Tezpur Central Jail, which was established in 1846. The Dibrugarh prison is India’s eastern most central Jail with its complex straddling over 15.54 acres of land. Far east and south of Dibrugarh lies Arunachal Pradesh. Myanmar and China are beyond Arunachal. During the height of insurgency movement in Assam, several dreaded ULFA rebels were lodged here, but there was never an incident.
Assam’s second oldest prison
The Dibrugarh jail is Assam’s second oldest prison after the Tezpur Central Jail. It is well equipped to manage inmates, can house 680 prisoners. Currently, some 450 are lodged. It has special infrastructure to house people arrested under the National Security Act.