Ranchi, Aug. 23: Even if the Uptron cellphone jammers installed on the state jail premises are made functional, prisoners can continue using smuggled mobile phones to mastermind criminal activities from within the confines of their cells.

This is because the three state jails — Ranchi, Hazaribagh and Dhanbad — have one jammer each with a capacity to block cellphones using GSM technology within a 40-60 metre radius, which cannot effectively block cellphones of CDMA (WiLL) technology.

The problem came to light when a deputy commissioner’s mobile phone started ringing during a function in the Birsa Munda Central Jail a couple of years ago.

Since then, the state government has been planning to get the jammers repaired by Uptron. However, experts feel that the device requires to be upgraded.

The delay is attributed to the fact that Uptron has scaled down production. Though several employees of the ailing corporation have been deputed elsewhere, the company, a government of Uttar Pradesh undertaking, the lone manufacturer of jammers in the country, continues to be in existence.

These days instead of making GSM jammers, Uptron is suggesting buyers to go for 3-in-1 (GSM, GSM extended and CDMA) jammers, which cost Rs 4 lakh each to cover a radius of 40-60 metres. The sprawling state jails require more GSM jammers, equipped with gadgets to block CDMA technology.

However, the authorities concerned might find it difficult to convince Uptron experts to visit Jharkhand. Having burnt its fingers in the past, Uptron officials are reluctant to deal with the state government anymore.

A senior Uptron official told The Telegraph over telephone from Lucknow, “A three-member team from Uptron’s wireless division, which manufactures jammers, had come to shift them from Ranchi and Hazaribagh jails to the Bacon Factory but was not paid anything despite a commitment from the Jharkhand government.”