Higher walls, more guards for Banda jail after breach

Lucknow: A day after a major security breach at Banda jail, in which an undertrial scaled the inner boundary wall of the prison using a bamboo stick and fled, jail authorities have decided to increase the height of the wall to check a repeat of such instances.

Don Mukhtar Ansari is lodged in the same prison.

Senior officials said that more guards will be deployed along the boundary wall as well.

DIG, jails, Prayagraj range, Sanjeev Tripathi told TOI that the inner wall of the jail was about 7-foot high and could be scaled easily. Now, it has been decided to increase its height. Inside the prison, there would be two cops on duty instead of one.

“I have also directed the jail superintendent to clear and put all things like bamboo sticks under lock,” said Tripathi.

Tripathi also said that a report has been sent to the headquarters against the jail warder in charge of the section where 22-year-old undertrial Vijay Arakh was lodged. The breach in Banda jail came after last week’s ruckus in Jaunpur jail.

On Tuesday, the prisons department conducted a random security audit of district jails in Bahraich, Ballia, Sultanpur, Unnao, and Siddharth Nagar.

Senior officials said that high-security barracks were checked and all surveillance equipment was installed. They also inspected functioning of CCTV cameras installed throughout the prisons. Modern search equipment, pole metal detectors, baggage scanners and hand-held metal detectors were also checked. The audit also involved investigation of the causes of dissatisfaction among prisoners.

“They checked the functionality and adequacy of security equipment like body protectors, helmets, batons, and arms of prison security personnel and also requirements of officers and security personnel,” said another jail officer.