The state-of-the-art and sprawling jail premises at Colvale boasts of tight CCTV-security. The 72-crore first phase consists of three barracks – two used to house prisoners, a staff quarters, kitchen, administrative block, 15-bedded hospital and a dental unit. And to top it, there is a strong posse of jail staff to keep a tight vigil. But imagine the premises being breached with impunity at regular intervals.
Last week, there were three incidents that once again exposed the porousness of Colvale jail. Three jail guards were caught red-handed supplying tobacco products to prisoners, a jail guard was caught entering the prison with ganja and charas in his shoes and in the third case a prisoner who jumped parole was let out on fake documents.
Strange stories have emerged from Colvale jail over the years, some sounding like pieces of fiction. If cellphones and sim cards have made their way inside, there are numerous cases of narcotics like ganja and cocaine, alcohol, cigarettes and beedis made available to the inmates. It’s all happening at Colvale. The jail was also host to a bhang party thrown by the jailbirds in February this year, which ultimately led to an overdose followed by fights, chaos and extreme vomiting. On October 12, 2015, twenty under trials, including six foreigners were beaten up mercilessly by jail guards inside the premises. In another case, a notorious gangster, Apshek Bengre was stabbed to death by fellow under trial on July 26, 2016. There are cases where inmates develop friendships with officers and jail staff. An instance to this effect was when 500 jail inmates pleaded for service extension of a jail superintendent. And then there are cases of misappropriation of funds by the jail cashier.
Interestingly, all of these lapses, most of them intentional, have gone unnoticed by the superintendent despite the tight CCTV presence. The most obvious action that follows is suspension of jail officials, and the matter rests there. But periodic suspensions have failed to usher in a change. These shady deals at Colvale continue unabated indicating that there is an utter failure of jail management.
One of the main reason behind this is a lack of proper jail staff trained to handle prisons with candidates being selected from the common staff and not from a more specialized jail cadre. Despite the repeated failures, the State government has taken these transgressions very lightly and has not explored options of tightening the screws.
A team of Academy of Prisons & Correctional Administration, Vellore (APCA) had submitted a series of recommendations on jail management, but these proposals have never been tried or even debated. The Home Ministry should wake up to the fact that Colvale is soon turning out to be a free-for-all jail. If there are security breaches, then surely it cannot be without the active connivance of jail staff. A complete overhaul of jail management is the immediate need of the hour before the situation goes out of control.
