Paradip: Jails housing hardened criminals in Jagatsinghpur district have come under heightened security ring.

Fifty such criminals of Kendrapara and Paradip-based crime syndicates are lodged at present in two jails of the district.

To thwart possible breach of order, vigil has been intensified, police said.

Two staffers of Kujang jail near Paradip were placed under suspension on charge of dereliction of duty after two undertrial prisoners, both natives of Bihar, had escaped from prison last year by scaling over the prison wall.

Keeping in view the occurrences of prison disturbances and indiscipline from time to time, CCTVs have been installed in both Ali-pingal and Kujang jails of Jagatsinghpur district.

"The system has helped the prison staff keep a 24X7 vigil on the prisoners. Round-the-clock vigil could be maintained over the hardened criminals, who are presently lodged in Kujang and Jagatsinghpur jails. There are reports of these lawbreakers fermenting trouble in the jail. The camera surveillance has greatly curtailed their unlawful activities," said Kujang sub-jail superintendent Sridhar Kumar Sen.

Of late, criminal activities within jails of the district have become a major cause of concern for the cops as well as the prison authorities.

Breach of discipline, unlawful activities, infringement of the stringent conduct code of jail manual, use of cell phones by those lodged in the jails as undertrial inmates have come to light.