Nets being installed in city prisons to prevent smuggling by inmates

PWD installing over 53,000 sqm of nets in three jails to prevent contraband such as phones, drugs, from being smuggled in; nearly 65% work already finished

Gangster Lawrence Bishnoi had allegedly spoken on phone to Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar and his associates to plan the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala from inside Tihar jail.

Conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar, too, allegedly ran a ₹200-crore extortion racket from Tihar jail using cellphones.

Tihar jail officials say that over half the contraband items — cigarettes, bidis, drugs and phones — found in the prison are smuggled by being thrown over the boundary walls. To curb this, authorities in Tihar, Mandoli and Rohini jails are installing nets at identified ‘drop zones’ and widening the nets that have already been installed for this purpose. Specific locations in the jails where contraband items are thrown are called ‘drop zones’.

“We are covering with nets the open spaces in jails where contraband items are usually thrown from outside. The process is ongoing and the PWD (Public Works Department) is fixing the nets. Apart from Tihar, the process of fixing and widening nets has also begun in Rohini and Mandoli jails,” said Director General (Prisons), Sandeep Goel.

He added that there are plans to install a total of nearly 53,000 square metres (sqm) of net in the city’s prisons. Of this, roughly 34,000 sqm of net has been installed so far.

Mr. Goel also said that the number of CCTV cameras installed along the boundary walls, to identify miscreants throwing such items from outside, will be increased over the coming months.

Noting that this issue arose due to increased urbanisation around jail premises, a retired Tihar law officer and a prison expert Sunil Gupta told  The Hindu, “Delhi’s prisons were supposed to be built outside of the municipal limits, but gradually residential settlements started coming up around the jails and the incidents of people throwing items increased.”