Maharashtra government approves patrol road for new Latur jail, sanctions Rs1.61 crore

The home department has approved a proposal for construction of a road at the newly-constructed Latur district jail, to improve patrolling.

The proposal was made by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) after a security audit carried out some time ago.

According to sources in the home department, the ATS wanted a road around the jail premises for better patrolling by the jail guards.

They said a sum of Rs1.61 crore had also been sanctioned for construction of the road, which would be about 3km long.

The jail was only in February this year and currently houses 244 prisoners, 235 of them undertrials and nine convicts.

The sources said the ATS audit sought to identify loopholes in security and suggest ways to rectify the shortcomings.

"In the audit, the ATS felt there is a need for a road outside the security wall of the prison which would help jail guards do proper patrolling. The road would also make patrolling more convenient during the monsoon. This was communicated to the government," said a home department official.

The proposal was put before officials of the public works department (PWD) in Latur who estimated the road would cost Rs1.87 crore.

The estimate was passed on to the offices of the additional director general of police, prisons, and the director general of police, who presented the proposal to the state government for approval.

"The state government has approved the proposal in view of the security issue and it has also sanctioned a budget of Rs1.61 crore for the construction of the 3km road," the official said. He did not explain why the amount sanctioned was less than the estimate by the PWD.