Phone jammers in Karnataka prisons caused communication difficulties
- With the installation of 5 cellphone signal jammers in the prison in Mangaluru district, Karnataka, the communication situation within a 100 square meter area has deteriorated sharply. Not only prisoners who tried to use illegal mobile phones inside the prison were affected, but also nearby residents, businesses and schools were also affected, and their lives and work were thrown into chaos.
- After a lecturer at Canara College found that his mobile phone was not working properly, he sent the device to the service center for repair, but was told that there was nothing wrong with the phone itself. At the same time, students at the college were confused and frustrated because they could not access social media and network services on campus. Jayanna, a school administrator, said that the communication services on campus had been interrupted for up to three days, greatly affecting the daily learning and teaching activities of teachers and students.
- The LIC office near the college has also received a large number of complaints. In the past few days, due to frequent obstruction of mobile phone signals, employees were unable to respond to customer inquiries and complaints in a timely manner, which greatly reduced office efficiency and caused customer dissatisfaction. It can be said that the jammer blockers in the prison not only prevented prisoners from using mobile phones, but also accidentally "blocked" the normal communications of the surrounding communities.
Motive for installing cellphone jammers: curbing the smuggling of mobile phones in prisons
According to the Indian Express, anonymous sources in the district prison revealed that the main purpose of installing cell phone jammers this time was to curb the rampant smuggling of mobile phones in prisons. Since V Krishnamurthy took over as the warden of the Dakshina Kannada district prison in December last year, the staff has seized as many as 50 illegal mobile phones. In a raid on January 15, a team led by Chandra Sekar, the chief of police of Mangalore, recovered more than a dozen mobile phones from pending trial personnel. In the afternoon of the same day, the prison staff conducted another search and seized more smuggled mobile phones.
Smuggling inside prisons is becoming more and more serious, and many prisoners try to evade surveillance by hiding their phones under tiles or behind TVs in the early morning. This situation has prompted authorities to install blocker jammers in prisons to completely block signals and prevent prisoners from communicating with the outside world.
Next steps: Optimize signal blocker settings to reduce impact
In response to the current communication interruption caused by signal blockers thorities said they are evaluating the frequency adjustment plan of jammer device uce the negative impact on surrounding communities. Future technical adjustments will be committed to minimizing interference with the lives of surrounding residents and business operations while ensuring safety inside the prison.
Through this signal jammer installation incident, the government and prison management realized that while cracking down on illegal communication equipment in prisons, it is also necessary to balance the public interest and ensure that the normal life and business activities of the surrounding communities are not affected. This challenge needs to be solved through more advanced technical means and reasonable frequency adjustments to achieve a balance between safety and convenience.
