Mobile Phone Jammers - Misuse feared

Mobile phone jammers in increasing demand.

Mobile phone jammers are in demand and its sales have gone up in the city. Jammers come with a minimum price of Rs 9,000. Both portable and fixed jammers are available in the market.

The low quality jammer can block phones within 20 meters. Prices will go up corresponding to the larger limit above 20 metres. High quality jammers can be able to block phones beyond the limit of 200 metres.

In fact, the equipment is not supposed to be used by ordinary people. A telephone jammer is an instrument used to prevent cellular phones from receiving signals from base stations. When it is active, the jammer effectively disables cellular phones.

The jammers are used where high security is needed such as courts, jails, confidential meetings, parliament and so on. In many countries, use of jammers is illegal mainly due to safety hazards as all calls will be blocked, including the emergency calls.

In India, though the use of jammers is legal, it is restricted to government offices, religious places, prisons and educational institutions.

Shops selling these jammers in the city say that ordinary people come asking for jammers these days. They say parents come for the jammers to prevent the use of mobile phones by their children during their study time.

But, sources say that the users are mainly those who are engaged in anti-social activities. In Kerala, Malappuram is the prime market. In Thrissur district, demand is very high in Guruvayur and Chavakkad areas.

According to sources, jammers are helpful in carrying out robberies, murders and terrorist activities. People will not be able to contact anyone if they are in trouble and criminals can take advantage of this situation to fulfil their aims.

Assistant City Police Commissioner TK Thomas told City Journal that mobile phone jammers are meant to use in high security areas. "There is no need for commoners to use such systems. If someone uses and sells jammers, it should be with approval from police,'' Thomas said.

Cyber Cell in the city said that the use of mobile jammers should be with consent from police or Cyber Cell

City Journal, Thrissur

Now You can Visit a Jail too!!

Many people have at most a foggy idea of how a jail looks like inside and unless someone commits a crime, there is no way of knowing. But no longer.

In two months from now they will be welcome inside jails as tourists, as for the first time in the country a tour will be conducted in the correctional homes in West Bengal.

The State Correctional Administration in collaboration with the Tourism Department is going to start a tour at the correctional homes of the states.

"We have got a go-ahead from the state government and the principal secretary of the Tourism Department, Raghavendra Singh, has promised all help enabling us to start the unique venture in two months from now," Additional Director-General (Prison) B D Sharma told PTI.

Sharma says the tour will be a two-way traffic. It will present ordinary people an idea of how a correctional home is run and the inmates, cut off from the outside world, will be able to interact with people.

"We need to generate awareness among masses that the prisoners or those undergoing trials are not a different set of people, but are only from amongst us," Sharma said.

The first correctional home to be thrown open to tourists is the Hooghly Correctional Home where famous revolutionary Bengali poet was imprisoned way back in 1922 during British rule.

Arrested in November 23, 1922, Nazrul was sentenced to a year's rigorous imprisonment in the jail for sedition.

The poet, who was born in Burdwan district, but went over to East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, to reside after Partition, had undertaken a 40-day hunger strike in the jail to protest against ill treatment of political prisoners.

Sharma said besides historical importance of the jail, it has a lovely ambience as it is situated on the banks of the Hooghly river.

The project was scheduled to get off the ground in the beginning of this year, but was postponed for two months for technical reasons.

"We have to keep in mind the security aspect of the project," he said.

A ticketing system would be introduced for tourists to help raise money for the prisoners' welfare fund.

The state's minister for Child and Correctional Services, Biswanath Chowdhury, described the project as a "noble effort".

Courtesy: PTI