CHANDIGARH: Punjab Jail Department has initiated the process of purchasing ultra-modern security equipment for the jails of the state to further strengthen the security infrastructure.
Giving this information, Punjab Jail Minister S. Laljit Singh Bhullar said that the Punjab Government led by Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann has always been serious about the security of the jails of the state. He said that in the current financial year, in addition to the major security equipment, full body scanners, body worn cameras, flood lights, walkie talkie sets, boom barriers, CCTV cameras, sniffer dogs, X-ray based scanners, search lights, high mast poles, non-linear junction detectors, anti-riot kits, e-carts, wire mesh in high security zones, etc. are being purchased to strengthen the security infrastructure of the jails.
S. Bhullar said that T-HCBS (Tower for Harmonious Call Blocking System) jammers have been installed in 2 jails of the state. He said that AI has been installed in eight central jails to generate alarms in case of throwing prohibited substances outside the main wall of the jail, wall scaling, rioting and use of mobiles, etc. The installation of the CCTV system has been completed and this system is also being implemented in 17 other jails of the state. He said that 19 X-ray baggage scanners have also been purchased to cover 13 sensitive jails of the state.
The Jail Minister said that 200 body worn cameras are being used to monitor the behavior of the prisoners in the jails. He said that 295 CCTV cameras are being installed to cover all the cells of the high security zones in the jails where high risk prisoners are lodged. Similarly, mobile network jamming solution is being installed at designated places in 13 sensitive jails with high security zones.
S. Bhullar further said that to save the expenses and staff incurred by the police department to produce the prisoners in the jails in the respective courts, maximum number of prisoners are being sent to VC. The department has also installed 159 VC systems in the jails and a proposal to build more than 200 VC systems and VC rooms is under consideration.