Maha plans to attach electronic chips to legs of convicts

Alarmed over rise in the incidents of the convicts on parole absconding, the Maharashtra government plans to put a band containing electronic chips on the legs of those serving time in the state jails.
This will help prison authorities get timely information on the location of these convicts whether they are in prison or are out on furlough and parole, a senior prison department official told PTI here today.
Authorities were left red-faced recently when Sajjad Mughal, convicted for the murder of city-based lawyer Pallavi Purkayastha, jumped parole and became untraceable.
Around 29,000 inmates in cases of serious offences are lodged in prisons across the state, including 9,000 convicts. As of now, 600 convicts are on parole or furlough, Additional Director General, Prisons, Bhushankumar Upadhyay said.

The plan is to put an electronic chip in the form of a band on convicts' legs, he said. The band will help trace the convict's location and will alert jail officials if it is removed, he added.
Officials have also started collecting iris scans of new inmates and will collect thumb impressions with the help of biometric fingerprint reader, he said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has set up a committee to recommend comprehensive measures to prevent the convicts from jumping the parole or furlough.
The committee will be headed by Principal Secretary (appeals and security) Vijay Satbir Singh.

Its members will include top police officers and senior members of the state bar council.
The government has already amended the rules of parole and furlough in December last year, a statement from the Chief Minister's office said today.
Recently it was decided that rape convicts will not be given parole and furlough.
The rules were amended after it came to light that 250 convicts have gone absconding after release on parole in the state so far, an official said.