RAWALPINDI: An intelligence agency has alerted the law enforcement agencies about loopholes in the security arrangemnets of four crowded prisons in Punjab.

In a report to the inspector general of the police, the Special Branch said mobile phones and other banned items were still being smuggled into the prisons while close circuit television cameras (CCTV) and mobile jammers in the jails were not working properly.

The report pointed out several loopholes in the security of Central Jail Adiala, Kot Lakpat Jail Lahore, Camp Jail Lahore and Central Jail Gujranwala.

The report said prisoners in Kot Lakpat were using mobile phones while the CCTV cameras were not properly functioning there. Similarly, mobile phone jammers in Camp Jail Lahore were out of order.

In Gujranwala, mobile phones, narcotics and other banned items were smuggled into the central jail allegedly by some prison guards and policemen. As a result, the prisoners were still using mobile phones to remain in contact with their accomplices outside. Same was the case in the Adiala Jail and Camp Jail Lahore.

In addition, the CCTV cameras installed in and around the prisons were not working while the jail authorities were facing a shortage of manpower.

Though army personnel, Rangers and security guards perform security duties around the Adiala Jail, the report said during power loadshedding mobile phone jammers did not work.

The jail authorities were suggested to make alternative arrangements during loadshedding but nothing has so far been done, the report added.

Since convicts and under-trial prisoners involved in high-profile terrorism cases are housed in the jails, the chances of terror attacks in these facilities cannot be ruled out, said the Special Branch in its report. Therefore, the security loopholes must be checked, it added.

In the wake of the concerns, the authorities are considering installing more CCTV cameras around Adiala Jail, which has been declared as one of the sensitive jails in Punjab.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2015

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