Beur Central Jail. Telegraph picture

Muzaffarpur, Aug. 22: The state government has decided to engage retired army personnel to guard prison walls in the districts of north Bihar.

Impending Maoist threat to Khudiram Bose Central Jail in Muzaffarpur and sub-divisional jails in Motihari, Bagaha, Bettiah, Samastipur, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Jhanjharpur, Benipur, Rosra, Dalsinghsarai and Sitamarhi in north Bihar has prompted the government to augment the process of recruitment of retired army personnel and State Auxiliary Police (SAP). The process of recruitment will begin from August 25.

The government has decided to involve retired armymen and SAP personnel owing to the dearth of wardens in the jails. A large number of posts of jail wardens have been vacant. But at the same time, the state government, instead of initiating appointment of jail wardens, changed the policy a bit and took a decision to engage retired armymen and SAP personnel.

Talking to The Telegraph, superintendent of Khudiram Bose Central Jail Vishwanath Prasad said inspector-general of police (prisons) Anand Kishore has approved the plan to recruit retired army personnel for fortifying the security arrangements of the jail.

However, the state government has relaxed the age bar for retired army personnel by five years.

The superintendent said the recruitment process will be completed in September and newly appointed retired army personnel would be deployed in October to guard prison walls in Maoist-hit districts of north Bihar. Eighteen Maoists are lodged in Khudiram Bose Central Jail at Muzaffarpur. They have been shifted to terrorist cells (T-cell) of the jail in apprehension of trouble.