Dhenkanal: Even as security arrangements in the 100-year-old district jail have gone down, criminals and undertrials in the jail take full advantage of its dilapidated infrastructure, staff shortage and mismanagement.
According to sources, narcotics and contraband items find unhindered entry into the premises and security arrangements are under threat. Moreover, dilapidated condition of the infrastructure in the jail calls for immediate attention.
Eight defunct CCTV cameras out of a total of 32 cameras affixed on the premises for surveillance need to be repaired. Unwarranted compassion is allegedly being shown to hardcore criminals in the jail. It is known that, criminals are being supplied pan, gutkha, cigarette and alcohol by the junior staff of the jail.
Hundreds of empty liquor bottles were found a few days back around the compound wall of Dhenkanal district jail. This information came to the fore after the arrest of mastermind Bairagi Behera in connection with the murder of Purnachandra Behera of Dolamandap Sahi here.
The district jail was established in 1916 to house 231 prisoners. However, at present, 334 prisoners are being housed here. The jail has four watchtowers on its four corners for surveillance. The watchtowers are found to have been locked over past many days.
An undertrial prisoner named Siba Munda had jumped over a wall and fled December 13, 2019 who has not yet been traced yet. This happened as there was an absence of surveillance from watchtowers.
Several local staff reportedly worked for over a prolonged period who are instrumental in illegal activities. After the jail superintendent was transferred, additional jailer has taken over charge of the district jail.
Moreover, the jailer is on deputation to Kamakhyanagar and out of 36 posts of warders, six positions lie vacant. Reacting to this, superintendent in-charge Sumarjani Pradhan said, “We have written to higher-ups about the staff crunch and have sought 45 more CCTV cameras.” However, he did not respond to queries on other problems, saying, ‘he is not officially authorised to give comments’.