On the eve of the Lok Sabha elections, at least 1,500 inmates at the Modern Jail Kapurthala started falling sick, complaining of acute abdomen pain, frequent sneezing and diarrhoea. The inmates were showing withdrawal symptoms as the regular supply of drugs to them inside the jail had been snapped following strict monitoring by the Election Commission.
The problem of drugs and its rampant smuggling inside the state jails is grave. In fact, one-third of the total inmates lodged in various jails across Punjab are drug addicts. Almost 40 per cent of the new inmates coming to jails daily are drug consumers.
Of over 28,000 prisoners lodged in the eight central jails and 18 district and sub-jails of Punjab, 9,500 are drug addicts. These startling figures have been provided by the state Jails Department.
While top jail officials maintain that barracks inside jails are checked regularly and drugs are seized, the fact is that with most jails not having any baggage scanners, drug supply in jails is a big business that remains largely unchecked.
On the eve of the elections, 10 inmates were rushed to the Jalandhar Civil Hospital after their condition deteriorated owing to withdrawal symptoms.
Kapurthala Jail Superintendent Prem Sagar Sharma told The Tribune that the problem arose because the drug supply was completely cut off owing to strict monitoring by the Election Commission. He said of 4,000 inmates lodged in the jail, 75 per cent were addicts. He, however, admitted that there had been no problem after the conduct of elections. In fact, the Jalandhar rural police have several times established the fact that masterminds of drug operators are running their business from the jail itself.
In the Faridkot Central Jail where 400 of the 2,000 prisoners are addicts, the authorities have failed to check drug smuggling inside the jail. They have now imposed a ban on the sale of curd in the jail because the aluminum foil in its packaging is used by addicts to smoke and snort heroin and smack.
Earlier an inquiry conducted into the clashes in Faridkot jail last year, revealed that an increase in the number of suicides inside the jail had its genesis in drug addiction. The inquiry report by Kotkapura SDM revealed that the addicts had an easy access to drugs in the jail.
“Without the complicity of the jail staff, drugs cannot enter the premises,” reads the report. The report also said there were every day skirmishes in the jail hospital when doctors and paramedical staff failed to provide necessary drugs to addicts. The only remedy with the jail doctors was to give the addicts tranquilisers, which rather than helping them, aggravated the problem.
The Jails Department maintains that they have set up drug deaddiction centres inside all eight central jails and that all addicts even from district and sub-jails are brought to these de-addiction centres. “We run this programme which has been designed by experts from the PGI. Separate barracks have been set up in jails for those undergoing detoxification and those opting for rehabilitation. The maximum number of those seeking detoxification are in Patiala (85 inmates) while 47 are undergoing rehabilitation. This is followed by Ludhiana (78 for detoxification and 25 rehabilitation) and Kapurthala (60 detoxification and 79 rehabilitation),” says a top official in the department.
However, various Jails superintendents confirm that the de-addiction centres are not run properly. De-addiction has to be opted voluntarily, but not many come forward, they say.
Menace deep-rooted
Official data suggests that out of over 28,000 prisoners lodged in jails of Punjab, 9,500 are drug addicts
Besides, 40 per cent of the new inmates coming to jails daily are drug consumers
The problem became acute during the elections since drug supply to jails was cut following strictness by the EC
A large number of inmates in most jails showed withdrawal symptoms, while some had to be hospitalised
Even the jail authorities admit that with drug supply resuming after the Lok Sabha elections, the addicts are breathing easy now
News Source: Tribune
