The recent escape of two inmates from the high security Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC), where foreigners arrested from across Gujarat are kept, not only exposed the chinks in security arrangements but also raised questions about the sluggish deportation procedures of the government. The JIC is located on the outskirts of Bhuj town in Kutch district of Gujarat. It is a high security area where intelligence and security agencies interrogate infiltrators and suspicious persons arrested from all over the state.

"The two inmates who escaped were not dangerous persons or anti-nationals. They escaped because they were fed up of waiting for their deportation process to go ahead. They were arrested five years ago and their jail term for infiltration was also over. They were still languishing in the JIC just because of sluggish deportation procedures", a senior police official working in the JIC told. "The JIC officials are awaiting the deportation of the two Nigerians and 22 others. But it is the state government, the Central government and the concerned country that have to push the process forward", the official said.

A senior official of the state Home Department said that the Gujarat government has not deliberately slowed the process to deport any individual. "If the arrested person is found not guilty by the interrogators and the court then we are most eager to deport them. But there are procedures to be followed by the Central government and also the arrested persons’ government," the official said on condition of anonymity. A police official posted at the JIC also lamented about the inadequate security that led to the escape of the two inmates recently. "There is a need to strengthen security and monitoring as most of people kept here are infiltrators. Though most of them are mere job-seekers and not anti-nationals, there are some who could pose a threat to national security," the official said.

He mentioned that one infiltrator who was arrested a year ago from the Rann region of Kutch who initially claimed that he was lost in the desert, "initially he told us many stories but the truth about his presence emerged after he was sent for forensic tests where in it revealed that he was an ISI trained person and was planning to target critical installations in Gujarat," he said.
The state police, military intelligence, Border Security Force (BSF), Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and other agencies interrogate the infiltrators at the JIC.

Courtesy: Zee News - Noida,India