More than 650 prisoners of Central Jail, Hyderabad, have been cleared of up to 15 cases, including murder, which were registered against 714 inmates after the prison operation in March 2011.
“Six-hundred-and-fifty-four [prisoners] have been released [from cases] under section 497 of the Criminal Procedure Code due to a lack of evidence,” Investigation SP Ghulam Nabi Keerio informed the Sindh High Court (SHC) Hyderabad circuit bench on Monday.
Of the remaining 60 prisoners, 35 have been booked under 15 sections each, including Section 302. Twenty-five others have been booked in 12 sections each.
“I have not only won the freedom of my children but also of 654 others,” petitioner Nazeeran Solangi told The Express Tribune with a triumphant smile. Her counsel, Hussain Bux, said that his clients were among those who were cleared. He hoped that they would be released soon.
Nazeeran Solangi, a resident of a village in Jamshoro district, had pleaded before the court that its orders for the release of her son, Karim Baksh, and nephew, Azizullah, last month had not been followed. Karim and Azizullah were sentenced for a seven-year term each by a lower court in a drug peddling case. However, the SHC acquitted them, giving their release orders on April 14. The two were, however, not released as the jail police implicated them in several cases for their alleged involvement in the prison operation, in which seven prisoners were killed and 47 others, including seven policemen, were injured.
At the last hearing, the court was surprised how the prison authorities would investigate 714 prisoners for such a long list of cases.
Meanwhile, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah directed the third additional and sessions judge to scrutinise the cases of the remaining 60 accused, and to submit a report at the next hearing on May 23.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 17th, 2011.
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