The prison officials maintained that they are on a high alert especially because the prison is housing over 100 inmates than its actual capacity and incidents like jail break and tussle between prisoners are likely to occur if they don´t strictly monitor the situation. [break]
“We have not been able to properly manage accommodation facilities to the increasing number of inmates, and they may exhibit unruly behavior to vent their anger,” said Rajendra Kujmar Karki, the jailer. “We have put the security of the prison on a high alert to prevent any untoward incident.”
Two weeks ago, some 16 inmates were shifted from the central jail, and five prisoners were recently transferred from the Mahottari district prison.
With the trend of transferring jailbirds to Jhumka prison continuing, the number of inmates there has already reached 707, or 100 more than its capacity. The prison was designed to accommodate not more than 600 inmates.
"Despite the scorching heat, prisoners are facing difficulty to take a little nap as there aren´t enough fans in the prison," said Tara Nepal, a security guard at the regional prison. In bigger rooms of the prison, more than 16 prisoners have been cramped in, whereas, around 12 inmates have been forced to stay in smaller rooms which should have housed merely five prisoners.
“Prisoners have to stand in a long queue to use the toilets in the morning, and they have no proper bedding. They are spending days in the prison in a pathetic condition. So, chances are high they may turn violent if the situation persists,” said he.
Altogether there are 44 rooms in the prison.
"Most unruly jailbirds are being transferred here. Some jails don´t like to take in such prisoners, but we are accepting them under an agreement with the central jail administration" said Karki.
Karki informed that the administration is currently encouraging the jailbirds in income generating activities such as making bamboo stools and other items, to maintain peace in the prison by keeping them preoccupied.
On November 9, a dozen inmates, including one Bangladeshi and two Indian nationals, broke out of Jhumka after digging an 80-foot tunnel.
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