RAWALPINDI: Even though two mobile phone towers installed close to the Central Jail Adiala were disconnected recently, cellphones are still functioning on the premises of the prison as the frequency of the other four towers installed quite far from the building has been increased by the service providers.

This development is being treated as a security risk by the jail authorities.

A senior official of the prison department told Dawn that two cellphone towers installed close to the jail had been undermining the jammers affixed in the prison. Since it is a high security prison, and crowded too, the installation of the mobile phone towers became a security risk, he said.

He said after the issue was brought into the notice of the authorities concerned, power supply to the two mobile phone towers installed close to the prison was disconnected and the companies were directed to relocate them immediately.

However, after the two cellphone towers were disconnected by the district administration in the presence of the security guards of the mobile companies, the companies increased the frequency of the other towers installed near Khawaja Corporation Adiala Road, Shahpur Saidan, Dehri Hassanabad etc.

Due to the increased frequency, signals reaching the jail premises and its nearby areas have become even stronger now. The residents of the Gorakhpur village also come near the jail to use mobile phones, increasing the security risk.

After the matter was brought into the notice of the jail superintendent, he wrote a letter to the National Radio Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) Haripur to install high-powered jammers in the jail to block the cellphone signals from reaching the jail.

An intelligence agency had already reported that due to the installation of the cellphone towers near the jail, prisoners languishing in the jail were using cellphones and remained in contact with the outside world.

It also provided an opportunity to the inmates to continue a life of crime unhindered from their locked doors amid heavy security.

It has also been reported that due to the high frequency of the mobile phone signals, the residents of Gorakhpur village were using cellphones after reaching nearby the jail.

The jail superintendent also asked the authorities concerned to cancel the no-objection certificates issued to the two phone service providing companies and direct them to relocate their towers.

In 2014, the provincial authorities had expressed concerns over the use of cellphones by prisoners in the jail as it allowed criminal organisations to operate and individuals to threaten witnesses and make escape plans.

It had also been observed that police officials deputed on escorting the prisoner vans from the jail to courts and back reportedly provided cellphones and narcotics to the jail inmates.

When the under-trial prisoners were escorted from the jail to the courts and kept in the judicial lock-ups before their production in the court of law, their relatives and friends met them. Some of them provided cellphones and contraband/narcotics to the prisoners and even the police personnel accompanying them.

The divisional police chiefs had been directed to strengthen vigilance as the use of cellphones by the inmates was a serious threat to the jail security.

However, the senior official of the prison department claimed that no fresh case of use of cellphones by the inmates of Adiala jail had come to light or any attempt made to smuggle narcotics into the jail.

He said though high-powered mobile phone jammers worked effectively, he was concerned about the mobile phone towers installed close to the jail which were undermining the functioning of the jammers.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2017