Karnataka: Jailbreaks easy in overcrowded prisons

Bengaluru: The Bhopal jailbreak by eight undertrial prisoners, who belonged to the Students’ Islamic Movement of India, the banned terrorist organisation, is “not an aberration. It was waiting to happen and one can expect similar jailbreaks in other prisons in the country, because they are overcrowded and have become unmanageable.

In Karnataka the situation is no different. All central prisons are bursting at the seams with undertrial prisoners constituting nearly 70 per cent of the inmate population,” said an officer on condition of anonymity.

The increasing population of undertrial prisoners is largely because of pending trials and nonavailability of police escorts to take them to courts.

The Bengaluru Central Prison at Parapanna Agrahara has a capacity to house around 2,000 prisoners, but has more than 4,000 inmates.

The Central Prison in Mysuru has a capacity to accommodate 500 prisoners, but has been thrust with more than 1,000 and there’s no space for another mattress.

“Undertrial prisoners are segregated from the convicts. Among the convicts, those convicted under terrorism and other heinous crimes are kept away from other convicts in high security cells. But the fact is that there is just not enough space for prisoners in any of the prisons. This in itself is the biggest security risk.

Lack of adequate manpower is another major problem. Repeated proposals for prison expansion by successive prison chiefs have been kept in deep freeze by the Finance Department,” the officer said.

The Director General of Police and Inspector General of Prisons H.N.S. Rao told this newspaper that overcrowding of prisons is the main problem.

“As far as manpower is concerned, the government recently sanctioned 1,800 posts, from the rank of warder to assistant superintendent of prisons. The recruitment for the posts has to be completed within five years. The sanctioned posts will definitely help the Prison Department,” said the prison chief.

 Three injured in clashes inside central jail

Three jail inmates were injured when two groups, including a convict in Hubli Church blast case, clashed inside the Parappana Agrahara central prison on Monday evening. The injured have been identified as K.R.S. Jagga alias Jagadish, who is detained under the Goonda Act, and his associates Basavaraj and Chetan.

According to prison sources, the three clashed with Jaffer Iqbal, a convict in Hubli church blast case, and his associates. “The inmates had organised a function at the Ganesha temple inside the prison in view of Deepavali festival. Around 5.30 pm,  Iqbal and his associates were playing cricket next to the temple and the ball went inside the temple. When one of Iqbal’s associates went inside the temple wearing slippers to fetch the ball, Jagga and his associates took objection and picked up a fight with him. This led to a clash between the groups,” an official said. 

“Following a heated argument, Iqbal and his associates rained blows at Jagga and his associates. Before the situation went out of hand, the prison staff and other inmates intervened and separated both the groups. They were sent back to their barracks. Jagga, Basavaraju and Chetan, who sustained minor injuries, were treated at the hospital on the jail premises,” the official added. Prison Chief Superintendent Krishna Kumar said that both Iqbal and Jagga, who had psychological issues, were kept in the security block.

“Around 7 pm, when both of them were came out for dinner and they fought with each other on the the corridor. They both were separated and sent back to their barracks,” he added.