Kathmandu, June 10
Nepal Police has a plan. And if the plan materialises, monitoring prisons located throughout the country will be no big deal for the force. All the jails will be just a mouse click away if the plan, which entails installing CCTV to monitor jailbirds and police personnel deployed for security, turns real.
Already, some police offices are under CCTV surveillance. Police officials say they are installing CCTV systems in prisons in view of death of inmates in their cells and nexus between police and inmates, incidents that have tarnished the image of the police force.
Bigyan Raj Sharama, AIG at the Crime Investigation Department, says they indeed plan to keep jails throughout the country under CCTV surveillance. For monitoring activities of police personnel and jailbirds, there’s no alternative to putting them under CCTV watch, he opines.
NP hopes CCTV installation will make inmates safer and help the force them get the facts related to incidents.
Sharma says: There are police stations where sentries cannot keep jailbirds under constant watch. In such a situation, jailbirds can do anything, they can even commit suicide. Given this situation, CCTV installation is a must.
In some metropolitan police circles, NP has already installed CCTV systems. Metropolitan Police Circle Balaju has installed three video cameras on its premises.
“All kinds of people visit police offices. At times, police face charges of thrashing jailbirds,” says Sanjiv Sharma, DSP at MPC Balaju.
He says: CCTV cameras monitor activities of visitors and police personnel on duty. They ensure security of both police stations and those behind bars.
Bishwa Mani Pokharel, DSP at the Metropolitan Police Circle Maharajgunj, had video cameras installed on the Maharajgunj jail some months ago. The jail is quite close to the circle but we installed a CCTV system for the sake of security, he says.
Pokharel says two video cameras installed for monitoring activities of jailbirds and police personnel on sentry duty have made it easier for police to monitor activities of visitors, police on duty and jailbirds.
