It is unfortunate that seven inmates were killed in Hyderabad’s Central Jail after the police launched an operation against them. Their only fault was that they were protesting against the suspension of gas and electricity in the jail for the past 48 hours. Police officials claimed the operation was launched because prisoners held seven policemen hostage and snatched two official guns.
According to a report in your newspaper, a large number of mobile phones, two shotguns, six pistols, knives, hashish, liquor and other banned items were recovered from the prisoners. Who is responsible for this? Who provided access to the prisoners to these drugs and ammunition into the jail? We all know how dirty the police force in general is, and in particular the personnel posted in jails. It is about time that provincial governments took a strong view of this state of affairs and took strict action against errant jail officials.
Hafiz Muhammad Irfan
Published in The Express Tribune, March 17th, 2011.