Sambalpur Circle Jail in the wake of controversy, one incident after another in this jail has played havoc in the state, The Administration is silent

Sambalpur: Controversy did not leave Sambalpur Circle Jail. Less than two years, one incident after another in this jail has played havoc in the state. The prison system had opened the truth of loose administrative law. Now once again the picture of the loose law inside the prison has come to the fore. An under-trial prisoner who was convicted of juvenile delinquency fled away in front of everyone’s eyes. Despite the strict 24-hour supervision, the prisoner was able to escape from the jail, according to CCTV footage. Sambalpur Jail usually has around 800 prisoners in 22 wards with many good cells and prisoners are housed in some wards of the old building. There are not enough staff to monitor them and there are not enough warders. There are currently 71 warders in the post but 54 are on duty with 12 warders in each shift.

Since two or three of the 12 people live near the main gate, there are 9 to 10 people who would have been on duty inside. In such a situation, how can a small number of warders monitor all directions and places? On the other hand, there are two watch towers inside and two outside. People do not want to guard there. Similarly, although 65 CCTV cameras have been installed, many of them are not working.

• Half of the CCTV cameras are inactive
• There is no warder-in-prisoner ratio
• Watch Tower is only for the name.

Looking at the events of the past few days, Sambalpur Circle Jail has become infamous due to various incidents. In 2021, during the time of the then jailor Alok Kar, the notorious criminal Hyder was taken from Sambalpur Jail first and then to Cuttack SCB. From there Hyder was able to escape. In the same year, an intoxicated warder assaulted others including Jailer Alok Kar in Sambalpur Jail, and in another incident, a warder was transferred to another jail on the charge of taking a rustler into the jail. Even before this, the jail has been disgraced in many incidents like in May 2017 when the vigilance seized 17 million rupees from the then jailor. The governance and administration in the jail were said to be good. But Thursday’s incident of the fled of the prisoner has again raised questions about the loose governance law inside the jail and the tight administrative system.