Get Biometric System for Prisoners, Separate Prison Management From Security, MHA Tells Central Jails

The Union Home Ministry has asked central jails to develop a biometric system for inmates other than the physical head counts as well as explore the possibility of a hybrid model in order to separate jail management and jail security. The directions, that aim to tighten security within jails, have come from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

CNN-News18 has learnt that majority of central jails in states across the country are in the process of setting up biometrics for prisoners which will be incorporated with physical counting to ensure their attendance and monitoring.

The Home Ministry has advised the jails to separate management from security, which means that the management will be looked after by the jail staff while securing the prison complex will be the responsibility of other security forces that are deployed on rotational basis. The directions are being mulled over by jail authorities across states for implementation at the earliest.

The directions from the MHA on both points have been sent to the state police chiefs and prison director generals (DGs). The communication seems to have been prompted by repeated incidents of violence and security lapses reported from jails across the country.

In one of the most gruesome crimes caught on cameras in jail, 33-year-old alleged gangster Sunil Balyan alias Tillu Tajpuriya was recently stabbed to death by rival gang members in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, one of Asia’s largest prison complexes. A number of jail officials could purportedly be seen silently witnessing the repeated stabbing, leading to the suspension of nine of them following a departmental enquiry.

In April, 30-year-old alleged gangster Prince Tewatia also was stabbed to death in Tihar Jail by suspected rival gang members.

In May 2021, two men were gunned down in Uttar Pradesh’s Chitrakoot Jail in what was also believed to be a case of gang wars. One of the deceased men was believed to be a close aide of jailed ganster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau data on prisons, deaths in jails across India increased by 12.1%, from 1,887 in 2020 to 2,116 in 2021.

The data further showed that the total number of unnatural deaths in jails was 185 in 2021, of whom 150 inmates died by suicide, 11 were murdered by other inmates, six died in accidents, three died due to assault by outside elements while one inmate died due to firing and one due to negligence.