Daily Times

LAHORE: Inspector General (Prisons) Mian Farooq Nazir has said that the Punjab Prisons Department allocated Rs 633.146 million during the year 2015-16 for installation of mobile phone jammers to beef up security in the provincial jails.

He said that the technical support of a sensitive agency was sought for installing an effective mobile phone jammers system in three phases. “The first phase had been completed, work on the second phase is underway and the third would be launched after completion of the second phase,” he added.

The IG said after coming to know about the illegal use of mobile telephones inside the jails, meetings were held with the sensitive agency officials and a committee was formed for installation of the jammers. He said that the Punjab Home Department signed an agreement with the National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation, Haripur Hazara, for provision of the jammers.

He said that in the first phase, jammers were installed in 14 central and district jails in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Mianwalai, Sahiwal, Multan, Gujranwala, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, Sialkot, Sheikhupura and Kasur, adding that 87 jammers were installed in these jails at a cost of Rs 331.5025 million.

He said that in the second phase, mobile phone jammers would be installed in 13 jails including district jails Attock, Gujrat, Jhelum, Mandi Bahauddin, Jhang, Sargodha, Shahpur, Toba Tek Singh, Bahawalnagar, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Rahim Yar Khan and Vehari at a cost of Rs 301.644 million. The IG prisons said that phone jammers would be installed in remaining 10 jails in the third phase.