The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report tabled in the State Legislature has indicated security lapses and mismanagement by the jail staff in the Gujarat prisons. The report said that lapses in security led to excavation of a tunnel at Sabarmati Central Prison (located in Ahmedabad city).

The CAG report said, “Door frame metal detectors, close circuit TV system and mobile phone jammers installed at the prisons (test-checked) were found ineffective.”

The report also added that there were no watch towers outside Sabarmati Central Prison and the elevation of watch towers at Palara special prison in Bhuj district was reduced due to Air Defence protocols. “In contravention of the Bombay Jail Manual, high-rise buildings were constructed within the prohibited distance of Navasari Sub Prisons. Out of 1,540 prisoners who had escaped, 567 prisoners were yet to be traced (March 2013),” it said.

The report has also given a detailed note on the ‘2013 Sabarmati jail escape bid’ allegedly planned by the accused of ‘2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts case’. The note with the title ‘security lapses leading to excavation of tunnel in prison’ observed that there were 26 CCTV cameras installed in Sabarmati prison, but majority of them were not working since 2010.