Amid corruption charges, officer orders surprise inspections in state jails
The government, through NGOS, social workers and other organizations, keeps receiving complaint about the inhuman behaviour with inmates and corrupt practices in jails
JAIPUR: Amid complaints of inhuman behaviour with inmates and corruption in the state jails, inspector general (IG) of jail Vikram Singh has written a letter to the authorized officials to conduct surprise inspections in the jails.
“The government, through NGOS, social workers and other organizations, keeps receiving complaint about the inhuman behaviour with inmates and corrupt practices in jails,” stated Singh in his letter addressed to the jail superintendents and deputy jail superintendents of Rajasthan.
“Acting on the complaints, the government has taken a decision that on regular intervals surprise inspections (in the jails) should be carried out by the authorised officials as per the Rajasthan Jail Rules, 1951, so that i ncidents of i nhuman behaviour with inmates and corrupt practices inside jails could be stopped,” he added.
As per the Rajasthan jail rules, other than IGS, deputy IGS, jail superintendent and deputy jail superintendent are allowed to carry out surprise inspections in jails.
During the last six months, Ajmer and Jodhpur central jail have been in the news for several irregularities.
On October 13, an inmate of the central jail in Jodhpur had
VIKRAM SINGH, IG, jail
accused the jailor of giving “VIP treatment to hardcore criminals” in the jail. A video that shows the inmate, Azad Singh Rajpurohit, making the allegation against the jailor, Jagdish Prasad Poonia, had gone viral on social media.
Rajpurohit had written a letter to the state government in which he had made serious allegations against the jailor of Jodhpur central jail. “I used to live in ward number 11/3. The corrupt officer Jagdish Prasad Poonia has appointed his own man in the canteen store, chief office, ward number and administration office. In ward number 1, in which new inmates are lodged, they were given special privileges like mobile phone, drugs, intoxicants, beedi and other services,” the inmate had alleged.
The inmate had claimed that when he asked Poonia to stop the corrupt practices, the jailor threatened him to shift to a jail where he will not be able to meet his family members.
Former inspector general of Rajasthan prisons Radhakant Saxena said the racket of senior inmates extorting money on behalf of jail officials and inhuman behaviour with them is common across al l j ai l s of Rajasthan. “There are major administrative lapses across jails which should be corrected. And also inquiry should be done against senior officials responsible for that,” he said.
The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) had also busted a bribery racket being run to facilitate services to the Ajmer central jail inmates in July this year. So far, 12 people have been arrested in connection with the racket.
The ACB in its investigation had found that many “well to do” inmates in the jail were not only provided banned products, but were also given special treatment inside barracks. Every barrack of Ajmer Central Jail had a room in which the inmates were given these VIP facilities.
Barrack numbers 1 to barrack number 15 had a VIP room for those inmates who came from a sound financial background. Marking on these rooms were made wi t h c ha l k s . Thes e inmates were provided with various facilities such as clean room, special food and clean clothes. The inmates allegedly paid Rs 8 lakh every month in lieu of the facilities.