Ghaghidih Central Jail

Jamshedpur, July 19: Ghaghidih Central Jail at Karandih on the outskirts of the city, long made porous by inadequate security, aims to plug its loopholes by recruiting as many as 91 former-armymen by September-end.

The state home department gave a nod to the recruitment, months after jammers were installed in March to check the presence of cellphones inside the jail. Inspector general (prisons) Vijay Kumar Singh said security of all 26 jails in the state was on the revamp radar, but the priority was five central jails, including the one at Ghaghidih.

“In all, we will recruit 438 former-armymen for the five central jails. Of these, 91 will be posted at Ghaghidih jail,” Singh told The Telegraph.

Against the ideal sanctioned strength of 191 security personnel at Ghaghidih Central Jail, the prison has less than half — around 85 — at present. The other posts vacant. It also has the capacity to accommodate about 1,500 prisoners, with 1,200 inmates lodged at present.

Not only does this imbalance create glaring internal security loopholes, it hinders routine checking of prisoners and presents a vulnerable image of the prison to Naxalites and criminals both behind bars and outside it. Over a dozen hardcore Naxalites are lodged inside the central jail.

Officials of the jail maintained that lack of security was felt most when violent group clashes erupted among prisoners. Lack of adequate personnel also gave prisoners easy access to banned items such as firearms, cellphones and intoxicants, including liquor and drugs. Existing jail employees remain under tremendous pressure.

But Singh said these problems would be reduced to a minimum once fresh recruitment is made.

According to Singh, the process of recruiting former army personnel will be completed in the next two months. “They will be below 55 years of age and will have the onus of internal and external prison security,” he said.