7 mobile phones recovered from Ferozepur jail, its usage continued unabated
7 mobile phones recovered from Ferozepur jail, its usage continued unabated
Ferozepur, April 27, 2024: Notwithstanding stringent security measures, mobile phone usage continued unabated in Ferozepur Jail, with the recent recovery of 7 mobiles as unclaimed during two search operations, as it is one of the major banned items required to remain connected with the world outside the four walls of the jail.
During the current year, 64 mobiles in January, 28 in February, 23 in March and 30 in April had been recovered. The jail has three layers of security and around 200 officials remain on duty throughout the day. The jail has eight vigilance towers and more than 80 CCTV cameras have been installed. However, the number of cases of mobile phone seizures and recovery of intoxicating material continued unrestricted.
As per the information available, 696 mobile phones were seized during 2023 from the jail, much higher than last year’s recovery of 437 mobiles. In 2021, 270 mobiles were seized. In 2020, 130 mobiles were seized and in 2019, only 70 mobile phones were recovered from the jail.
In the recent search operation conducted on April 24 by Jasvir Singh Assistant Superintendent and his team in barrack number 12, 2 touch screen mobiles lying unclaimed were recovered. In another search on April 25, one touch screen and four keypad mobiles unclaimed were found. In all, 7 mobiles were recovered unclaimed from the jail campus. Meanwhile, a case under Section 52-A of the Prisons Act at Ferozepur City police station has been registered and further investigations have been assigned to Gurmail Singh, IO.
Recovery of mobiles is one issue and the purpose of its usage; from inside the jail has never been revealed except in high-profile cases, which was detected sometime back of making 15,000 calls from two mobiles by the gangsters. Taking the prisoner from whom the mobile is recovered, on remand, out of the jail by the police for in-depth investigation is not free from a security point of view. There had been instances of prisoners escaping from the custody of police resulting in more responsibility on the police.
There had been several incidents of recovery of mobiles of jail inmates, unclaimed or from the packets thrown over the high walls. Merely registration of cases would not suffice; there is a need to tighten the security inside and outside the jail premises and quick follow up of high-profile cases to crack the nexus between the inmates and the outer world, to keep an eye on the activities going on. However, there is no clue how these mobiles made their way to the jail inmates.
