THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The proposal submitted by the Prisons Department to establish a special court for the trial of accused in terrorism-related offences is an outcome of serious security issues prevailing in Kerala prisons with regard to trial of terror suspects.It has got added importance against the backdrop of tensions created by Lashkar-e- Toiba operative Thadiyantavide Nazeer and accomplices on Saturday at the Viyyur Central Prison after which they were taken to the Poojappura Central Prison on Tuesday.There are 16 accused in the state in terror-related offences, among which 11 belong to one group and the rest another group and there are five terror-related offences. The prison authorities do not prefer to keep all the 16 at one prison fearing chances for quarrel. The trial of a case in which all the 16 are accused would be held at the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court, Kochi on January 27.The trial is expected to last for 45 days which raises security concerns of the prison officials. “The fact that there are no Central or high security prisons in Ernakulam raise serious security concerns. Keeping the 16 accused for 45 consecutive days in the district or any other prison in Ernakulam is a high risk. These kind of security concerns have prompted the authorities to submit such a proposal,” sources said. At present, 11 of the 16 accused are kept in Poojappura Central Prison and the rest in District Prison, Ernakulam. But the Ernakulam District Prison, surrounded by multi-storeyed apartments, is also prone to threats.The accused in terror-related offences, like Nazeer, are reluctant to stay at Viyyur for which they cite a strange reason- Viyyur is a Hindu-dominated prison. There is an iota of ‘fact’ in what they say.The Hindus convicted in Marad riot case are lodged there. Central prisons in Kannur and Thiruvananthapuram are somewhat secular for them- 40 percent of the inmates are Muslims. But the presence of inmates with RSS bonds make Kannur Central Prison also unacceptable for them.The Prison authorities’ first choice, to keep the accused away from high risk, is the Viyyur Central Prison.“In terrorism-related cases, the authorities always foresee an attack by terrorists on the accused for fear that the latter might have leaked the group secrets to officers. Kannur and Thiruvananthapuram are near to sea, which the authorities fear, make attempts easier for any such attack,” sources said. Since it is the Central Government which has to take a decision on the proposal to establish a special court in Viyyur or Thiruvananthapuram for the trial of hardcore accused, ADGP (Prisons) Alexander Jacob declined to comment.
Comments
0 comment