Cell phone jamming device removed from Bangalore prison

The cell phone jamming device installed at the Central Prison in Bangalore has been removed after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) reportedly took objection to the powerful device hindering the cell phone network in surrounding areas.

The cell phone operators in Bangalore approached the TRAI after receiving complaints about disturbance in the cell phone network in certain areas in the vicinity of the Central Prison located at Parappana Agrahara on the outskirts of the City. When the disturbance in the network was traced to the powerful jamming device installed at the Central Prison with a view to preventing the inmates from using mobile phones, the TRAI issued a notice to the prison authorities.

The cell phone operators had even claimed that the jamming posed a threat to other communications, including emergency services. Interference on certain radio communication frequencies were reported from areas like Yeshwanthpur, which is at a distance of 30 kms from the Central Prison.

After the alleged mastermind in the multi-billion-rupee fake stamp paper racket Abdul Karim Telgi was caught by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for allegedly continuing to run the racket from the prison even after his arrest, the jail authorities had installed powerful cell phone jamming device, purchased from a defence manufacturing company in Russia.

“The jamming device was so powerful that cell phone operations in a radius of five kilometers around the central prison had been affected”, a senior police official said.

Though the high-power jamming device was removed from the central prison following the intervention of the TRAI, the prison authorities are facing a tough time finding a replacement device to jam the cell phone network in the prison area spread across 42 acres.

The jail authorities are on the look-out for jamming devices from other providers which will not interfere with cell phone network beyond the required range. For, keeping a tab on each of the 4,656 inmates of the Bangalore Central prison for mobile hand-sets is a huge task. “Even if the inmates are frisked and individually checked at the entry and exit points, there is a possibility of some inmates sneaking a cell phone inside. They can even have a mobile hand-set thrown into the central prison compound without the notice of the prison authorities”, a jail official said.

However, the TRAI has suggested the Central Prison authorities to consider alternative technologies like handset disablers, micro-cells and Faraday cages, which are better options for prisons than jamming devices.