The prison boasts of high security, yet it has been shamed by reports of prohibited articles reaching inmates
Covid-19 has brought the entire world to a standstill and millions of people are facing very adverse consequences as a result of the pandemic. An interesting facet of the Covid scare in Goa is some of the accused in Colvale jail taking advantage of the situation to facilitate their bails. And what’s the ground? Spread of Covid in jails. The entire jail is constructed in a plot admeasuring 2,95,207 sq mts and its built-up area is 20,000sqmts with walls comprising blocks of 40 cm thickness constructed with precast concrete blocks. All 21 blocks are secured by a 3.5-meter high wall on all sides and an RCC jail wall of 5.5 mts height. The infrastructure is well built with all necessary precautions. Seeing this, it appears that even a fly would not enter or exit the jail premises without obtaining permission from the jail authorities. In spite of this, we hear inmates escaping from custody which is very absurd and surprising.
The India Reserve Battalion is entrusted with the security of the jail. However, over a period of time the security has become lax. As a result, inmates manage to get mobiles, alcohol, drugs, etc. This is awful as the Central jail is a correctional home. The vices human beings espouse are all seen in the judicial custody at Colvale jail -- blame the lacklustre administration of the jail authorities right from the Inspector General of Prisons to the subordinate personnel. It is so bemusing to see that a person who wants an entry inside the jail premises has to undergo severe security checks at the gates. The jail’s outer periphery is manned by the IRB staff and the internal security is handled by the jail authorities. However, it is no one’s guess as to how the prohibited articles enter the jail premises.
The lack of CCTV cameras, mobile jammers, baggage cameras, etc the list goes on is not a ground to justify the entry of prohibited articles inside the jail premises. The staff and security of the jail administration lack efficiency and honesty and solely for this reason, prohibited articles are found inside the jail. Who do you blame? The jail authorities or the IRB?
It is now practically certain jail staff must be developing friendship with the IRB staff. Out of this friendship and goodwill and believing that the jail staff will not carry prohibited articles with him/her, the IRB staff maybe probably not conducting proper security checks on the jail staff. This is one strong reason for the prohibited articles being found inside the jail. Corruption and the lure for money is primarily a reason for deficiency in security and the cause for prohibited articles entering the jail premises.
The entry inside the jail premises is so hard-fought even for advocates who want to meet their clients for obtaining signatures on papers to be filed in various courts. It sometimes appears that the jail authorities and the IRB staff are pretending and portraying a particular modus of security checks and are executing a different one.
The most uncomprehended mystery is that when the entry is so restricted with security checks, then how do the inmates escape from such watertight security arrangements? It’s a shame for the jail authorities and the IRB security staff that such incidents are reported in a jail on which the Government has spent in crores. And now to maintain the facility, the exchequer has to shell out money for the salaries of the IRB security staff and the jail authorities. Colvale jail with its most inefficient staff and inspector general has now become like an amusement park for criminals and inmates as they enjoy all the luxuries of the world. The government is duty-bound to inquire into the functioning of the jail and stem the rot. If need be, probe the Inspector-General of Prisons and the head of security of IRB.
