From surveillance to a training course for prison staff in unarmed combat, the Delhi Prisons Authority is taking a slew of steps to prevent incidents of inmate violence inside jails, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday. To questions from the House regarding the number of deaths of undertrials by assault inside Delhi Prisons in the last year and standard operating protocol adopted to curb such instances, the Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs, Ajay Kumar Mishra, informed the House that during the last year, two incidents of murder and thrashing were reported. He stated, “An incident of a scuffle with a handmade knife was reported inside the prison in April this year wherein four undertrial prisoners sustained injuries which resulted in the death of one undertrial prisoner.” He added, “Another incident was in May this year wherein a convicted prisoner was attacked with an improvised knife by four prisoners, which resulted in the death of the prisoner.” He said the Delhi Prisons Authority has informed that for preventing such incidents, administration has undertaken several measures, such as surveillance by CCTVs, efforts on reducing overcrowding, psychological assessment of inmates, and searching and frisking, among others. He said regular interaction with inmates is being carried out to regulate impulse control, rational thought and awareness of consequences. “Jail staff is being trained in techniques of control and restraint and training courses for prison staff on unarmed combat, lathi drill, riot drill and contingency drill is also being held," the minister told the Rajya Sabha. The prison administration stated that briefing and debriefing of prison staff is carried out regularly. “Unarmed combat training is given to prison staff… use of body-worn cameras, especially in special security wards is undertaken,” stated the reply. Apart from this, quick response teams (QRTs) have been formed, said the prison body and grievance redressal system were being strengthened. QRTs, deployed after the death of gangster Tillu Tajpuria in the prison, comprise eight officers, including jail staff, CRPF, Tamil Nadu Special Police Force personnel and ITBP staff.
