As many as 267 terrorists are imprisoned in the Punjab out of which 17 are locked up at Bahawalpur Central Jail, according to a survey carried out by the provincial government.
The survey was conducted shortly after Pakistani Taliban insurgents on July 30 freed 250 inmates in an attack on the central jail in Dera Ismail Khan.
The report states that the Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu jail staff had helped the TTP carry out the attacks.
It says that Adyala Jail, Rawalpindi, Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore, Multan Central Jail and Dera Ghazi Khan Jail have been declared ‘sensitive’ and Rangers personnel have been deployed there.
The Faisalabad Central Jail, Bahawalpur Central Jail, Dera Ghazi Khan Central Jail and Mianwali Central Jail are, however, still without similar security arrangements. The report says that there is a shortage of security staff at these jails. It says that the inmates in these jails freely use mobile phones.
Bahawalpur Central Jail Superintendent Shahram Tauqir Khan told The Express Tribune that the jail’s capacity was 1,334 prisoners but 2,000 people were currently locked up there.
“450 jail department officials are deployed for security…We have close liaison with other agencies,” he said.
Khan said all possible steps were being taken to maintain security. “We carried a mock exercise few days ago…the Quick Response Forces’s response was satisfactory,” he said.
Bahawalpur District Police Officer Dr Suhail Habib Tajik said Bahawalpur jail’s security had been raised. “District police have made special arrangements for the security of the jail including round-the-clock patrolling,” he said.
The DPO said police pickets had also been set up at the jail. He said Elite Force had been deployed at these pickets to prevent any untoward incident.
He said, “Machine guns have been provided to the police to evade them to fight the terrorists.”
Tajik said the district police was constantly in touch with the jail administration, Rangers and the Army. “District police will respond within five minutes in case of a terrorist attack,” he added.
He said surveillance cameras and mobile phone jammers should be installed in all prisons in the province.
He said the number of security staff should be increased especially at ‘sensitive’ prisons.
He said a joint team comprising officials of the Home Department, the district police, Special Branch and Counter-Terrorism Department should carry out security audit of prisons in the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2013.