Step taken to break network of ultras being run from prisons
Identification process still on, more to be moved out soon
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Mar 11: With a view to break nexus of militants lodged in high security Kot Bhalwal Jail and some other prisons in Jammu and Kashmir with terror elements operating outside, the Intelligence agencies have shifted 96 detenues, majority of them terrorists, to different jails in New Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh while the process is on to shift more after identification.
Fifty six detenues including 53 militants involved in major terror activities and apprehended during encounters and searches in Jammu and Kashmir and three criminals booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) have been shifted to jails outside the Union Territory from Kot Bhalwal jail, official sources told the Excelsior.
Rest 40 have been moved out from other jails of Jammu and Kashmir including Central Jail Srinagar, they said.
“They were taken out of the jails and shifted to Haryana, New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh under tight security arrangements. The Jammu and Kashmir administration had already entered into an arrangement with the Governments of Haryana, New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh for lodging hardcore militants there to break their nexus with outside terror world which they were managing while being kept in the jails of J&K,” sources disclosed.
Security agencies have reportedly decided that hardcore militants and criminals will not be allowed to stay in one jail for a long time as they might develop their network even there with the help of criminals lodged in their barracks. They will, therefore, continue to be relocated.
“Besides breaking network of the militants being run from the prisons, if any, the move will also act as deterrence for future,” the sources said.
Many top separatist leaders of Kashmir have already been lodged in Tihar jail at New Delhi for past quite some time.
Sources said overcrowding in Kot Bhalwal jail was also one of the factors behind shifting of prisoners to outside jails but the prime reason remained the racket the militants were running despite being lodged in the prisons.
As against the capacity of 850 prisoners, the Kot Bhalwal jail presently accommodates 1100 detenues. Shifting of militants and some criminals outside will lessen burden on the jail, sources said, adding that only those local prisoners have been moved outside who were detained under the PSA while the militants were involved in heinous terror activities and it was also established that some of them had managed mobile telephones with SIM Cards inside to direct the operations.
Two prisoners each from Central Jail Srinagar and District Jail Poonch have also been shifted to Haryana.
“Lists of some more prisoners, mostly the militants and PSA detenues, are being prepared by the Home Department and the Intelligence agencies in Jammu and Kashmir for shifting them outside the Union Territory shortly,” sources disclosed.
It may be mentioned here that few months back, the Intelligence agencies had conducted raids in Kot Bhalwal jail and recovered mobile telephones, SIM cards and other gadgetries from the jail which were being used by some Pakistani and Kashmiri militants for staying in touch with their colleagues in the Valley and issuing directions from inside.
After that, the authorities had started enforcing strict guidelines inside the jails to ensure that the militants don’t manage to get mobile telephones or SIM cards inside. Previously, it was observed that few Over Ground Workers (OGWs) of the militants posing as relatives of the militants had managed to smuggle mobile telephones and SIM cards inside the jails.
Earlier also, the Government used to shift hardcore militants outside the jails from Jammu and Kashmir especially in Uttar Pradesh to reduce burden in the local prisons and also lessen the possibility of their staying in touch with militants and supporters for keeping the pot boiling.
According to sources, the Jammu and Kashmir Government has entered into an arrangement with Haryana, New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh for accommodating the prisoners from the Union Territory.
“The detenues are being sent to only those prisons which have capacity to accommodate the prisoners,” sources said.
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