Three deaths - one murder and two suspected drug overdose - reported from inside Tihar Jail within a week have exposed the lawlessness prevalent inside the high-security prison.
The first case was reported on May 12 where an inmate was stabbed to death by three fellow prisoners who used a sharp object to attack him. In another incident, two inmates died because of suspected drug overdose.
These cases suggest that all kinds of banned items, including drugs, sharp objects and contraband, are easily available inside the jail. Every year, the prison authorities catch almost 70-80 people trying to smuggle drugs or blades inside the jail. However, they have not been able to stop the practice completely.
“Smuggling of drugs and sharp objects is a major problem for the prison authorities. We have been trying to get rid of this problem, but have not been successful,” a jail official said.
The jail authorities had plans to install full-body scanners to stop smuggling, but it has not materialised so far.
Apart from contraband, cellphones, which are supplied in ways more than one inside the jail, are a worry for the authorities.
“We can catch a prisoner trying to smuggle a phone by hiding it in his body. But what do we do about the phones thrown inside the jail walls? We catch at least one cellphone almost every day,” the official said.
The Delhi Police have caught many criminals who were running extortion rackets from inside the jail. The most-wanted gangster, Neeraj Bawana, who has been arrested recently, was engaging prisoners from inside the jail to run an extortion racket.
When the common public living around the jail premises have problems in receiving phone signals due to the many jammers inside the prison complex, how do the criminals make calls so easily?
A jail official, however, said, “There are three dozen jammers at the jail. But we need 80 more. Since the jail premises are situated in a residential area, we cannot get more jammers. The residents already keep complaining about not receiving signals.”
“Also, the prisoners over the years have identified particular spots where they can get signals inside the complex. We keep the jammers off also for some time which the prisoners identify and take advantage of,” he added.
According to the data provided by the jail authorities, 15 Tihar Jail officials have been suspended in the last three weeks for dereliction of duty after prohibited items were recovered from inmates.
