Jailbirds fighting for space

KOCHI: Despite the district bearing a tag of being a fertile ground for crimes, the prisons here are in dire straits. As many as four sub-jails are overcrowded and  lack proper facility to accommodate convicts.The wardens are also not trained to handle brawls between prisoners.There are four sub-jails at Ernakulam, Mattanchery, Aluva and Muvattupuzha,  and a District Jail at Kakkanad. “Though the Human Rights Commission has fixed an air-space for each convict   in the cell, we are unable to follow the norms as each prison is overcrowded. The number of prisoners are three-folds more than what we can  admit,” Ernakulam sub-jail superintendent Raju said. “Inmates of Ernakulam sub-jail are literally scrambling for space and there   are only eight jail personnel to carry out various duties. The staff are  struggling to keep order in the overcrowded jail,” he added.As per the recent report of the Director General of Prisons, Ernakulam sub-jail has 92 inmate while it can only accommodate 28 persons. There are  12 cells available for prisoners here, of which two are used by women. Six prisoners are currently occupying the 2 cells. The Mattancherry jail has capacity to admit 28 persons while 68 persons are lodged here. In Muvattupuzha, 86 convicts are admitted in the cells made for  72. In Aluva, the capacity is 26, but 80 prisoners stay here. Of that, two are women.The strength in the Kakkanad District Jail is just 131 when 200 inmates can be accommodated here. The number of women inmates is 8. “The number may be less. But, the prison is not yet fully functional. At present, the facility is limited,” said a report filed by the Jail superintendent before the NIA Court.“The sub-jails are overcrowded. Usually, when the number of prisoners increase beyond a limit, they are shifted to the Viyyur Central Jail,” the authorities said and added that frequent transferring of the prisoners had  turned a headache for the authorities.We don’t have a vehicle to bring the prisoners from Viyyur Central Jail  when the accused has to be produced before courts in Ernakulam, according to the report of the Director General of Prison.The pressure over the prisons here may increase as many terrorist are lodged here. In Ernakulam District Jail itself, five terrorists accused in Kashmir  recruitment case are accommodated. Hardcore criminals like Thadiyantavida Nazeer and his accomplice are also lodged here. “They often turn violent and disturb other prisoners,” the jail official said.