Central prison to be set up near Mangaluru.

The Karnataka Prisons Department is planning to set up a central prison at Mudipu in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada district at a cost of ₹200 crore, according to HN Satyanarayana Rao, Director General of Police (Prison).

Addressing presspersons after inaugurating the visitors' gallery at the district jail in Mangaluru recently, he said the Department of Prisons has 67.89 acres of land for setting up the central prison at Mudipu.

It will be the 10th central prison in the state and will accommodate 1,000 convicts and undertrials. Around 270 jail staff will be housed in staff quarters inside the prison complex.

The Karnataka Home Minister has suggested the setting up of a helipad inside the prison complex.

Rao said that the Karnataka government has already released ₹2 crore, and earmarked another ₹7.5 crore for the project. Stating that the present district prison in Mangaluru is overcrowded, he said it houses around 410 undertrials.

HBL