Prisoners’ transfer in K-P jails prompts inquiry

PESHAWAR:

As reports surfaced that some 80 prisoners, both convicted and under-trial, had been illegally shuffled across K-P prisons, the Home and Tribal Affairs department of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) has sealed its prison section and confiscated all its record till an inquiry is complete.

The staff members of the section have been warned not to enter the section until the probe is finished, sources close to the home department revealed.

Home and Tribal Affairs Secretary Muhammad Azam Khan had imposed a ban on transfer of prisoners between jails since assuming office a year ago, not only within the province but also on an inter-provincial level.

Sources told The Express Tribune that around 60 to 80 prisoners were confirmed to have been shifted to and from the central jail in Peshawar, including a few prisoners from other provinces, upon which the officer launched an investigation. The section officer, along with other staff members had been suspended.

The prison section had also been separated from the judicial wing and had been merged with the political wing, till further orders, sources claimed. Around 10 prisoners were shifted since the home secretary took charge, but were transferred upon the directives of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

The department had been in contact with other prisons in and outside the province, to show them the No Objection Certificates (NOC) for transferring prisoners to its jails.

Sources said there was a proper procedure to transfer prisoners. The home department had to issue the NOCs for the transfer of inmates, and the job of the inquiry team was to probe whether they were issued the certificates and, if so, who was behind the issuance despite the prevailing ban.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2012.