Lucknow, Apr 6 (IANS): Five jails in Uttar Pradesh will be converted into high-security prisons. The jails selected for the upgradation are in Lucknow, Bareilly, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Azamgarh and Chitrakoot.

According to additional chief secretary home, Avanish Awasthi, these jails will take about two years for completion. "They will be equipped with high-end gadgets for security and surveillance with a network of CCTV cameras. The jail staff will be trained to handle the high-end equipment," he said.

Some of the equipment that will be installed in these jails include non-linear junction detector (that detects electronic equipment like phones), dual view baggage scanners, human body scanners, hand-held metal detectors and drone cameras. Night-vision binoculars and bodycams are also to be procured.

Yogi Adityanath, when he took over as Chief Minister in March 2017, had initiated an exercise to equip the jails with mobile jammers to check the activities of those inmates who operate their gangs from inside the prisons.

The state government also plans to put up concertina wire fencing as well as glass meeting rooms in order to prevent any kind of physical contact between prisoners and their visitors.

These jails will also have an effective intercom system, fire fighting systems including water mist spray and other security equipment designed to prevent banned items form being smuggled into the jails.