BHUBANESWAR: The State government has started a process for upgrading its jails into maximum-security prisons. The jails will be equipped with high-end gadgets for better security and surveillance.
In a bid to check the use of mobile phones by inmates inside prisons, the government has decided to procure deep search metal detectors for all circles, districts and few sensitive jails in the first phase. The deep search metal detectors will help in the detection of concealed mobile phones, chargers, SIM cards and others, said DG Prisons Santosh Kumar Upadhyay.
The government has also approved the procurement of body-worn cameras for Circle Jail at Choudwar and Special Jail at Jharpada in the city. The cameras will be extremely useful in keeping a close watch on the hardcore criminals lodged in the prisons. In subsequent phases, body cams will be procured for other jails after assessing their utility, said Upadhyay.
About 200 deep search metal detectors, and 20 cameras each for Choudwar and Jharpada jails will be procured by the department soon. This apart, intercom facility will be installed in 24 jails and video conferencing systems upgraded in 13 jails. The old and dysfunctional CCTV cameras will be repaired/replaced in selected jails as per their security requirements.
The government has also approved the installation of ACs in 50 jail hospitals and electrocardiogram (ECG) machines in few prisons. Besides this, the government will set up a 20-bed hospital at Bhubaneswar and a 10-bed hospital in Padampur, Jagatsinghpur, Soroda and G Udayagiri this year, he added.