The Madhya Pradesh government has asked the Central Industrial Security Force to audit security arrangement at three prisons in the region after eight Students Islamic Movement of India undertrials escaped from the Bhopal Central Jail in November. The agency was investigating loopholes in the security system of the Bhopal prison.
CISF Director General OP Singh said, “The State government has now requested us to provide the same expertise to the three Central jails located in Indore, Jabalpur and Gwalior. The agency has also submitted its report on the security system at the Bhopal prison, reported The Hindu.
Officers who conducted the audit said they have suggested “augmentation of human resource and infusion of latest gadgetry for making security at the jail fool proof” at the prison. They also recommended setting up of better surveillance systems and stricter security check posts at exits.
Around 21 other men charged with links to the banned outfit have been relocated to separate cells after the jailbreak, according to The Indian Express. The jail authorities reportedly change the locks to their cells every day in the presence of the official in-charge. The movements of the prisoners have also been restricted and security has been heightened in the sector where their cells are housed.
The incident in Bhopal bared several loopholes in the prison security system in the state, even though the jail administration has been under scanner for contradictory and suspicious version of events. The police have maintained that the prisoners had escaped from the prison after murdering a security guard. They were intercepted on the outskirts of the city, and were eventually shot dead by the force. The families of the men have demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe in the matter.
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