Round-the-clock surveillance of inmates

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Kathmandu, July 24 The Ministry of Home Affairs said the activities of jailbirds doing time in prisons were closely monitored by security
personnel to foil attempts to orchestrate criminal acts from behind bars. Abhishek Raj Singh, 40, a serial killer, who is serving life
sentence in Nakkhu Jail for three counts of murder and one attempted murder in Surkhet, Bhaktapur, Janakpur and Rupandehi, murdered his
jail-mate Bhakta Bahadur Sunar, 32, of Bardiya in May last year. In yet another incident, Samirman Singh Basnet, who is doing time in the
Central Jail for construction entrepreneur Sharad Kumar Gauchan murder, was found to be engaged in criminal activities such as extortion
from behind bars
Security personnel have kept under round-the-clock surveillance. The one-year report card released by the MoHA yesterday claimed that police
had put in place special security arrangements inside prisons
&Adequate number of closed-circuit television cameras have been installed in the prisons to prevent incidents of jailbreak and other
potential crimes inside the jails,& it said. The central jail, the oldest prison in the country, was equipped with 30 CCTV cameras to put
its entire premises under CCTV surveillance
Police officials and the jail administration monitor the activities of inmates and prisoners from the control room. Prisoners of Central
Jail and Dillibazar Prison often try to break jail as the physical infrastructure of these jails are old and in dilapidated condition
The 104-year-old central prison houses around 2,800 jailbirds, including high-profile prisoner Charles Sobhraj. Tika Bahadur Thapa Magar,
30, had escaped from Dillibazar Prison by scaling a barbed wire fence on January 28 last year
He was arrested for involvement in more than a dozen property crimes
Later, he was nabbed from Chitwan after being shot at
In October last year, a British inmate escaped Nakhu Jail
However, Mukadur Hussain, who was doing time on the charge of overstaying, was later nabbed. The MoHA said installation of high resolution
CCTV cameras would also ensure better vigilance and safety of inmates and prisoners. In March 2011, Yunus Ansari was shot at by Manmeet
Singh, 42, of Bareilley, India, at the Central Jail
Ansari was doing time in connection with possession of fake Indian currency and contraband drugs
He, however, survived the attack and police arrested the shooter. MoHA said it is also doing groundwork to establish connection between all
the prisons and courts through video conferencing system for trials
After the prisons are equipped with this facility, police need not transport the inmates of sub-judice cases to the concerned court for
short hearing
It will also end the chance of possible escape of inmates from court premises. Similarly, the process of relocating the Central Jail to
Trishuli of Nuwakot is picking pace
The construction site is spread over 539 ropani land
The prison facility with capacity of 7,000 persons, will have five blocks, including one for females, as per its master plan
The MoHA said one of the blocks with capacity of 1,500 persons would be completed by mid-July next year. The post Round-the-clock
surveillance of inmates appeared first on The Himalayan Times.