LUCKNOW: The killing of gangster Munna Bajrangi in Baghpat district jail on July 9 had exposed security lapses in jails. Criminals have been for long running their operations from prisons and planned, executed killings as well as making extortion calls from jails.The security infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh jails is still not up to the mark, with a big percentage of jails not having functional CCTV cameras and mobile phone jammers as per standards.Of the total 70 jails in UP, 30% prisons lack properly functional CCTVs while 65% do not have phone jammers in working condition.As per jail manual, there should be at least 30 CCTVs in every jail but 22 prisons, including those in Baghpat, Sonbhadra, Ballia and Pilibhit, lack properly functional CCTVs. Similarly, 46 prisons in the state lack working phone jammers. When TOI questioned ADG, prisons, Chandra Prakash, he said that CCTVs are not working properly in 30% jails.“In 2014-15, the state government had passed an order for upgrading all 70 prisons, primarily installing CCTVs and phone jammers by November 2017 and had also allocated funds but the upgradation is still going on,” said ADG Prakash. “I took charge in June and informed the government that CCTVs and jammers in all jails will start working properly by August 31,” he added.The ADG further pointed out that jammers in all jails will have to be upgraded as they are unable to render 4G phones unusable and efforts are on to ensure they also get covered. UP prisons department has one model jail, five central jails, 60 district jails, two sub jails, one Kishor Sadan in Bareilly and Nari Bandi Niketan at Lucknow.All central jails except the one at Naini, Model Jail of Lucknow, Nari Bandi Niketan and Kishor Sadan, Bareilly, are only for convicts who are proven guilty and awarded punishment.Naini Central Jail and all district jails and sub jails house undertrials also along with convicts.

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