With the number of Naxalite inmates in Chhattisgarh’s prisons growing, the state Government on Tuesday unveiled an ambitious project to connect prisons with courts through video conferencing. The project has been started on a pilot basis at Raipur central prison and will be expanded to other prisons holding Naxalite cadres in the state soon. The Government claims that these e-courts will help in improving security of sensitive prisoners. “Now hardcore Naxals and dreaded criminals can be produced before the designated court without fear of them fleeing from the court premises,” said Director General (Prisons and Home Guard) Rajiv Mathur. There are about 400 alleged Maoist cadres, both hardcore and Naxalite sympathisers, lodged in the state’s various prisons. The highest number of Maoist inmates, about 120, are lodged in Jagdalpur Central Prison, while about 70 are lodged in Raipur prison. There are also approximately 4,000 under trial detainees in various prisons of the state who need to be produced before the respective designated courts on the trial dates. Senior jail officials pointed out that a lot of risk is involved while escorting the undertrials to court and bringing them back safely to prison and a posse of police personnel are deployed on the job. “The move was mooted as the department wanted to avoid security lapses that had occurred during the transit of prisoners before,” Mathur added. The DG said the step is being implemented on a pilot basis and is likely to be replicated in various Naxalite affected districts later. “We also hope to bring down corruption levels as undertrials will not be needed to taken out of the prison premises,” he said. The move to introduce video conferencing comes after the Government’s decision to provide special training to jail security staff. “A group of 24 recruits have undergone training to be up-to-date in dealing with Naxalites in various prisons,” he added.
