Beur jail in Patna. Telegraph picture

The prison department has decided to deploy 2,000 additional security personnel in prisons across the state in the wake of the recent attack on the jailor of Beur Central Jail in Patna.

Inspector-general (prisons) Anand Kishore has issued a directive to superintendents of jail last week, asking them to strengthen security in all 55 prisons, including eight central jails, 31 divisional jails and 16 sub-divisional jails.

The directive assumes significance in the wake of the attack on Amarjeet Singh, the jailor of Beur Central Jail, by three motorcycle-borne criminals near the prison gate last month.

According to the new directive, the deployment of the security personnel would be done in two phases. The highest number of security personnel would be deployed at the Beur jail. The prison, which houses several hardened criminals and Maoist leaders, would get 98 additional security personnel —60 in the first phase and 38 in the second phase.

After the security revamp at the Beur jail, next in line will be the Gaya Central Jail that will get 85 personnel (50 in the first phase and 35 in the second). Similarly, 83 personnel would be deployed at Shaheed Jubba Sahni Central Jail in Bhagalpur.

Kishore told The Telegraph that altogether of 2,096 additional security personnel would be deployed in the 55 jails. While 1,135 personnel would be deputed in the first phase, 961 would be deployed in the second stage.

“A letter in this regard has been sent to the respective jail superintendents,” he added.

Kishore had on May 5 issued a similar directive on security arrangements, asking the jail superintendents to employ home guard jawans as security personnel. “But this time, we have specified the number of the personnel to be deployed in respective jails according to their requirements,” the officer said.

Lack of adequate security has led to escape of a number of undertrials from various jails of the state in the recent past. A letter issued by the inspector-general to all the jail superintendents on July 31, 2012 revealed that several prisoners escaped after removing iron grills of windows in their wards. “Escape by prisoners is a serious matter. Immediate steps should be taken to check the incidents. Directives have been issued to the district magistrates concerned to assess the condition of the iron grills by special teams and get them either repaired or replaced at the earliest,” Kishore said.

Sources said a warder of Bettiah divisional jail was dismissed from service recently after charges of dereliction of duty were found true. A notification regarding dismissal of Raj Kumar Paswan was issued on July 24, 2012. Two undertrials facing charges of murder — Kishori Bin and Amar Mukhiya — had fled the Bettiah jail.