Jammu and Kashmir to form prison intelligence units and use biometrics
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has called for better coordination between police and intelligence agencies to monitor threats from within jails.
Senior officials from the police, intelligence agencies, and civil administration met on Thursday to discuss creating dedicated prison intelligence units (PIUs) and implementing biometric systems in all Jammu and Kashmir jails, according to The Indian Express.
The meeting, chaired by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at Lok Bhavan, aimed to address concerns that terrorists and hardened criminals have allegedly conducted operations from inside prisons.
Sinha directed that the police, prisons department, and intelligence agencies establish a coordinated system for sharing information to fight radicalisation and terror networks. He also ordered surprise inspections of prison grounds and forensic examinations of any electronic devices found in custody.
While no prison in the Union Territory currently has a dedicated intelligence unit, the central jails in Srinagar and Kot Bhalwal in Jammu have integrated security features like biometric verification and 24x7 CCTV surveillance. These were implemented after the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) assumed security for key prisons.
Officials stated that the new PIUs and biometric tools will assist in monitoring threats from inmates, including Pakistani militants. The discussion also covered increasing tele-medicine services for inmates and improving human resources within the prisons department.
The move follows previous instances where agencies uncovered jailed militants using mobile phones and social media to contact handlers in Pakistan. Last month, the J&K Police also dismantled a terror-funding network in Shopian and a radicalisation module in Bandipora linked to inmates.