Jammers in jails to stop ISD calls by inmates

Home Minister K J George told the Council on Thursday that there had been several instances in the State of organised criminals making international from within the central jails.

Responding to a question by Congress members Pratap Chandra Shetty and Mahantesh Koujalagi, the home minister said that the department is trying its best to curtail the use of phones in jails.

He said that effective jammers, priced at Rs 7.5 crore to Rs 8 crore each, would be installed in central jails across the State.

On curbing the use of narcotics which are freely available inside the jails, George said that the department is planning to instal scanners at the entrances of jails and check people who enter and exit the prisons.

Since 2011, the number of reported cases of atrocities against women and children is on the rise, he said.  In a written reply to BJP member G Madhusudan, George said that the number of atrocity cases for 2013 is 563 cases (against minor girls) and 498 cases against women.

As per the statistics for 2014, till June 15, the number of cases of atrocities against minor girls is a whopping 325 and 151 against women. About illegal immigrants, the minister said 34 Bangladeshis and nine Pakistanis who had come to the State for various reasons continue to stay. In addition, 144 Bangladeshis (including 23 children) had come to the State without valid travel documents.

The Home minister said that action is being taken against those who are overstaying.
George turns the tables

George, who has come under attack for alleged deterioration of law and order, on Thursday, strongly defended himself and blamed the previous BJP government for problems faced by the Home department.

Replying to a debate on the law and order situation in the Assembly, he said if there was any problem, it was because the previous government failed to fill up vacancies in the police force. The government has nothing to hide on the shootout  of sub-inspector Mallikarjun Bande in Gulbarga As per investigation report, the incident happened due to lack of visibility. Police officers mistook Bande for the criminal and so the incident took place. The government did all that was necessary to save his life, he claimed.