Three days after Javed, an undertrial lodged in Tihar Jail was bludgeoned to death following a clash with some other inmates, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday visited the jail and took stock of the security arrangements in place.
Eight others were also injured in the clash which led to Javed’s death and the incident happened almost two months after the main accused in the December 16 gang-rape hanged himself. The two incidents and occasional reports of clashes in South Asia’s largest prison complex have raised questions on the safety inside the jail.
Ms. Dikshit was accompanied by Chief Secretary D.M. Spolia, Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Ray and Director-General (Prisons) Vimla Mehra besides others.
“While discussing the various aspects of security inside the jail, Ms. Dikshit instructed the prison authorities to chalk out a blueprint to improve the security. The blueprint with comprehensive steps to strengthen the existing security related infrastructure and administrative steps should be prepared also taking into consideration the lapses and deficiencies observed in the recent past. The authorities have been directed to submit the blueprint within a week,” said a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s office.
Making it clear to the jail authorities that her government, with which the administration of the jail rests, would not tolerate such lapse(s) such as the recent clash, the Chief Minister also instructed the D-G (Prisons) to take steps to prevent incidents of assault among the prisoners and clashes between various groups of the inmates.
“Further, the authorities have been asked to keep all CCTVs and mobile phone jammers functional,” added the statement.
The Chief Minister also underlined the need to take effective measures to contain incidents of smuggling of objectionable items inside the jail, which remains a major concern for the jail authorities as well.
