Saqib Junaid
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, June 30: Amid increasing crime rate resulting in rise in the number of detainees in Jammu and Kashmir, the state will have more prisons to overcome the problems of congestion in the existing jails.
Presently, there are 14 jails in the state with intake capacity of around 3000. However, the Valley prisons are overburdened due to rapid increase in the number of arrested persons for their involvement in taking part in protests, stone pelting, domestic violence and other crimes.
Sources said some of the prisons have been lodging prisoners double then their existing capacity.
According to police records, around 70 crime cases get registered on an average daily in police stations in the state. A total of 272819 incidents of crime cases were reported from 2005 to 2015, Of which police registered 22850 cases in 2005, 23603 in 2006, 23825 in 2007, 22549 in 2008, 24006 in 2009, 25272 in 2010, 26590 in 2011, 26558 in 2012, 26907 in 2013, 25390 in 2014 and 25269 in 2015.
In order to overcome the problems of overburdened jails, sources said government wants to establish prison in each district of the state.
According to official data most of the district jails are overcrowded with District Jail in south Kashmir's Anantnag having nearly double the occupancy at 187 compared to the capacity of 100.
Similarly, district jail Jammu has the capacity of 450, while its occupancy is 462, and Baramulla jail 132 against 120, the official data reveals.
"We are facing a tough time to accommodate new prisoners due to lack of space in some prisons including at the Central Jail Srinagar. There are always chances that minor scuffles could turn into major clashes as barracks of most of the prisons in Kashmir are packed over to the capacity," a senior official of prisons department said. He said the number of detainees have increased for the last 25 years due to ongoing disturbance in the Valley.
He said the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) had pulled up the state government several times due to congestion in prisons for accommodating more prisoners than the existing strength and had recommended immediate measures for reducing the number of prisoners in jails but no action was taken.
While a senior official confirmed that government was going to modify some prisons to increase their intake capacity.
Sources reveal that the Central jail Srinagar was the most overburdened due to increasing number of jail inmates.
Situated at the foothills of Hari Parbat in the Old City Srinagar, the Central jail comprises of over 17 barracks with one special block. Similarly, Koth Balwal Jail in Jammu is too overburdened.
However, to ease out the congestion and to increase its intake capacity, the government has made a proposal to shift the district jail Srinagar to other place.
"There is a lot of pressure on the Central Jail Srinagar due to increasing number of arrested persons. There is no scoop to expand it at its present location due to congestion in its surroundings, and there is a proposal to shift it to outskirts of Srinagar," a senior official said. |
