PRAYAGRAJ, Oct. 13 -- The official approval for upgrading mobile network jammers from 2G to 5G in Naini Central Jail and district jails in Kaushambi and Pratapgarh to prevent inmates from making calls through modern cellular networks is still awaited. The jail authorities have already sent requests to the UP Prison department citing security reasons but approval from the Uttar Pradesh government is still pending for upgrading seven jammers installed at Naini Central Jail, which houses terror accused brought from Jammu and Kashmir as well as several notorious criminals linked to interstate gangs. DIG (Prisons), Prayagraj Range, Rajesh Srivastava, said a proposal has been sent to the state government for upgrading the cellular network jammers in all prisons of the division, including Naini Central Jail, Kaushambi Jail and Pratapgarh Jail. "We are trying to get the existing jammers upgraded to 5G. If the current equipment cannot be upgraded, the entire system may have to be replaced," he said. According to Naini Central Jail senior superintendent Vijay Vikram Singh, the prison currently houses 1,720 inmates, including 10 Pakistani terror accused lodged in high-security barracks and several hardened criminals linked to gangs operating in Delhi, Punjab, Ghaziabad and other parts of northern India. "We have to manage rival gang members within the same jail complex. They are kept in separate high-security barracks under constant surveillance. Upgrading the jammers will help prevent unauthorised communication with the outside world that could facilitate criminal activities," he said. Pratapgarh Jail superintendent Rishabh Dwivedi said the prison has two sets of 2G jammers despite the widespread use of 4G and 5G mobile networks. "We have 967 inmates. In present times, 2G jammers serve little purpose. A proposal for upgrading them has already been sent to the UP Prison department in Lucknow earlier this year," he said. Similarly, Kaushambi Jail superintendent Ajitesh Mishra said the prison, which houses around 700 inmates, continues to rely on 2G-frequency jammers although the technology has become obsolete. Naini Central Jail also houses nearly a dozen members of the IS-227 gang once led by slain mafia don Atiq Ahmed. The push for upgrading jail security systems comes against the backdrop of repeated recoveries of mobile phones and other prohibited items from prisons. During joint raids conducted in 2022-23 at Pratapgarh Jail, officials recovered 13 mobile phones, 13 data cables, four chargers, seven earphones and six spare batteries from barracks. At Naini Central Jail, a reward scheme launched in January 2021 for information leading to the seizure of mobile phones resulted in the recovery of 32 handsets from inside the prison. Earlier, during a large-scale raid conducted by district administration and police teams in June 2019, officials seized five mobile phones, including a smartphone, along with knives, blades, earphones, lighters and other prohibited items from different barracks of Naini Central Jail. Commercial 5G networks and the first 5G-enabled smartphones were officially launched in the country in April 2019....