Jammu and Kashmir will set up prison intelligence units and introduce biometric systems across all jails. On Thursday, officials met to discuss these plans to stop terrorists from running operations while locked up. The Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said, "The formation of PIUs will help officials in gathering information."
Top brass from police, prisons, intelligence agencies and the civil administration here on Thursday held discussions on the formation of dedicated prison intelligence units (PIUs) and introduction of biometric systems across all the jails in Jammu and Kashmir.
Officials said this would help the authorities in tackling terrorists and other hardened criminals who have allegedly been carrying out their operations despite being lodged inside jails.
The meeting was chaired by the Union Territory's Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at Lok Bhavan, officials said.
Emphasising on robust jail administration, the L-G called for a unified coordination mechanism between the police, prisons department and intelligence agencies.
He also issued instructions for regular review meetings and intelligence sharing between all these agencies to combat terror networks, radicalisation, and law and order threats.
He also ordered the holding of surprise checks of prison premises and the surrounding areas, as well as forensic analysis of any seized electronic device inside the jail.
The discussion, in addition, focussed on expansion of tele-medicine facilities for inmates and strengthening of human resources in the prisons department.
The meeting was attended by DGP Nalin Prabhat; DGP, Prisons, J&K, Deepak Kumar; Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Chandraker Bharti; Special DG, Coordination, PHQ, SJM Gillani; ADG, CID, MK Sinha; Principal Secretary to L-G, Govind Jaiswal; Additional Director, IB, J&K and Ladakh, Pankaj Kumar Thakur; and other senior officials.
While none of the prisons in J&K has its own dedicated intelligence unit, the central jail at Srinagar and at Kot Bhalwal in Jammu got integrated layered-security systems, including biometric verification, 24×7 CCTV surveillance, and full body scanners after the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) took over the inner ring and perimeter security of key prisons in the Union Territory.
The formation of PIUs and introduction of biometric systems in all jails across J&K will help officials in gathering information and monitoring threats which may emerge from inside the prisons where dreaded Pakistani militants and hardcore criminals are lodged, said officers.
A number of states, including Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Jharkhand, besides Delhi, have already introduced these systems as part of modernisation of prison administration.
These systems, which include AI-monitored CCTV cameras, RFID tracking and video conference, help in sharing of information on a real-time basis to prison authorities, police, intelligence and security agencies.
Past cases
Prison officials, local police and intelligence agencies in J&K have, from time to time in the past, neutralised illegal communication networks, terror-financing modules and radicalisation efforts by militants and hardened criminals lodged inside jails.
In this context, officials referred to raids conducted by Counter Intelligence Kashmir (CIK) and intelligence agencies uncovering jailed militants allegedly using mobile phones and social media apps to maintain contact with their accomplices in Kashmir and handlers in Pakistan.
Only last month, the J&K Police had busted a terror-funding network in Shopian district that was allegedly raising funds for Lashkar-e-Taiba and its proxy group, The Resistance Front. During subsequent investigations, investigators discovered an intra-UT network with connections to militants lodged inside jails, tracking suspicious online financial transactions, and digital money trails. Nearly a dozen people were arrested in the matter.
The same month, J&K Police busted a radicalisation module associated with banned Ittihad-ul-Muslimeen in Bandipora district, whose activities to spread separatism targeting women were allegedly coordinated by jailed separatist leaders.
Last year, the security agencies had uncovered a major inter-state "white-collar'' terror network involving radicalised students and professionals, with jailed militants using encrypted messaging tools from behind bars on smuggled mobile devices to manage movement of funds, facilitate logistics, and oversee recruitment drives across J&K, UP and Haryana.