Srinagar, Jan 22, 2021: About 21 prisoners from Jammu and Kashmir, presently facing illegal detentions in various jails of Indain state Uttar Pradesh, have been shifted to the high-security Agra jail. This is being done on the orders of the Indian Home Ministry (MHA). The prisoners being shifted now are believed to be most of them associated with senior veteran Hurriyat leader, Syed Ali Geelani. These inmates were booked under draconian law Public Safety Act (PSA) and were arrested in August 2019.
According to Senior Superintendent of Agra central jail, V.K. Singh, “While eight prisoners were already lodged in Agra Central Jail, 17 more have been shifted from Naini, Bareilly and Ambedkar Nagar jails. Four more are scheduled to be transferred from Varanasi Central Jail. All of them will be kept in a high-security cell, away from the other prisoners.”
The entire cell is soundproof and under constant CCTV surveillance. Sources said that the jail staff on duty at the special cell have been strictly directed not to speak to any prisoner. Only senior officials would communicate with them, if needed.
They would be taken out of the lock-up one by one at a fixed time every day and allowed to walk for a few minutes.
Visitors and staffers would be thoroughly checked at the main gate. The entire premises is being monitored by police and provincial armed constabulary (PAC) round-the-clock.
In 2019, over 200 prisoners booked under the black law PSA were transferred to the Agra Central Jail. A year later, most of them were ‘temporarily’ released on the directives of the MHA. The high-security cell at Agra central jail was constructed 23 years ago and has a capacity to lodge 30 prisoners. (source IANS)