Mangaluru : A central prison is soon to come up on a sprawling 63.89 acres of land near Mudipu, on the outskirts of Mangaluru.

There are eight central prisons in Karnataka – including those in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Belagavi and Ballari – and Mangaluru will be the ninth in the State.

The new central prison is to be equipped with a hospital, staff quarters, watch towers, industrial and vocational training centres.

Director General of Police (Prisons) H N Satyanarayana Rao, who inspected the proposed site at Mudipu, directed the Mangaluru Prison Superintendent V Krishna Murthy to start the work immediately and install a boundary wall. This, incidentally, is Rao’s first visit since he took charge as the DGP (Prisons) in January.

Speaking to the media, Rao said that the new central prison will be a high-security modern prison, with all facilities and space to accommodate more than 1,000 prisoners.

Earlier – after he visited the Mangaluru prison – the DGP spoke to reporters. He stressed the need to shift the Mangaluru prison as it is located in the heart of the City.

Although he admitted that the prison in the City is overcrowded and that there is severe shortage of staff at the prison, Rao said that almost all prisons in the State are overcrowded.

“A total of 320 warders have been appointed across the State. They will receive their appointment letters anytime soon, once the police verification is completed,” he said, adding that the vacancies at the Mangaluru prison will be filled immediately. “At present, there are only 15 staff members – of whom, six are women and three are on deputation – as against the required number of 25 posts to manage more than 400 criminals and undertrials who are housed in four different places inside the prison,” said the officer.

When asked about the proposed mobile jammer inside the prison, Rao said that the equipment had been set up. At present, experts are installing a similar equipment at the Belagavi prison, he informed.

To another query on the confiscation of mobile phones and chargers inside the prison, Rao said that henceforth all persons, including advocates, would be frisked before they are permitted to visit prisoners. “I too should not be exempted from such a checking,” he insisted.

Rao also said that he is planning to organise special courses for prison staff members throughout the State, to boost their self-esteem, among other issues.

City Police Commissioner Chandra Sekhar, ACP Tilakchandra and Prison Superintendent V Krishna Murthy among others were present.