Govt Firms Up Norms For Taking Out Convicts For Court Hearings
Patiala: Transfer of criminals from one jail to the other will now be done under the direction of an SP-level official in each region. The official will be held accountable in case a criminal runs away from the police network.
In addition, the state administration has recognized that lack of preparations for the escort party and no officer to watch their progress are the matters, Which require instant attention.
The administration has intended to take on a standard operating procedure (SOP) for taking prisoners for court trials, stress more on video conferencing technology and work out problems confronted by policemen escorting the criminals.
2 days after three prisoners runaway from police charge after slaughtering a head constable in the city of Bathinda, two of the charged were today killed, the administration has decided to renovate the complete system of taking prisoners for court hearing. Special orders have already been forwarded to the Superintendent Police (HQ) in every region, designated as the nodal official, to make sure secure transport of prisonors for court trials.
“The SP will be accountable till the police group from his region hands over criminals back to the prisons,” stated DS Bains, Principal Secretary, Home.
“A time and travel schedule for all criminals being shifted from jail to court and back will be drawn by the SP,” Bains added.
Thus far, in case a criminal runaway from the police network, only the accompanying policemen confonted action.
Bains added that from now on, no police officer would go with a criminal for over one instance to stay away from their regular contact. “Recently, a few lapses on part of senior officers have come to our knowledge wherein they never took the job of escorting criminals seriously. Now, the accountability will be with the SP (H) who will liaison with other region counterparts,” Bains stated.
Usually, the accompanying policemen have no provision for food. They choose roadside eateries and pay from their own pouch. “We will ensure that some arrangements are made for them in every region so that the policemen do not stop wherever they feel like and in case they do, the local police is involved”, claimed Additional DGP (Law and Order) Dinkar Gupta.
“We will take the jail officials into confidence and depend more on videoconferencing,” Dinkar Gupta added.
Persistently, the escorted charged paid for the food of the policemen to get friendly with them. “This is precisely what happened in Bathinda where criminals got time to procure chilly powder,” said a senior police officer.
Instructions have also been fowarded to jail officials to arrange for canteens within the prisons so that the visiting relatives of prisoners purchase food from there. “This will make it difficult for the relatives to pass on drugs, weapons and other stuff hidden inside eatables to the prisoners”, said Bains.
Plugging loopholes
The administration has decided to renovate the system of taking out prisoners for court hearing
Transfering of criminals will be done under the management of an SP-level official in each region
No policeman will accompany a criminal for more than once to avoid their regular interaction
Additional facilities will be offered to the policemen escorting inmates
Cafeterias will be built within jails so that the visiting relatives of criminals are barred from bringing eatables from outside
What troubles policemen
Staff shortage and long duty hours
No guidance or cooling period after a day on outdoor duty
No tie-up with the respective district police while transporting prisoners
Ban on handcuffing criminals
No monitoring by a senior-level officer
No check on criminals meeting relatives in courts
