Corruption allegations: Home dept begins inquiry into ‘murder plot’

Death row prisoner claims jail authorities accept bribes from opponents outside prison.

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) home and tribal affairs department has ordered an inquiry into the alleged murder attempt of a prisoner on death row at the Haripur prison.

The directives were made when the department’s “complaints and inquiry” section received a letter from a prisoner requesting authorities to transfer him from jail citing threats to his life.

The letter, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, was sent by Naseer from his death cell. It said that Naseer and his friend Imtiaz were at their barrack when someone managed to bring poison inside in order to kill Imtiaz.

The letter said that the prisoners then immediately informed assistant superintendent of the jail, Naeem Khan. It claimed that after Khan investigated the matter, he recovered the poison from a man named Zakir.

“Sir, people from outside the prison bribe jail staffers to kill their opponents in prison. The poison was recovered and Imtiaz was the target of the assassin. Maybe I am next on the list,” the letter read.

Naseer added that Imtiaz had been shifted to Mansehra where his appeal was pending before the Supreme Court of Pakistan, requesting that the home secretary relocate him (Naseer) as well.

“We fall under your jurisdiction. May be you have also been bribed, nevertheless, I am appealing that you inquire into the matter and save my life,” the letter read.

Meanwhile, the department initiated another inquiry into another letter inscribed with corruption charges against the jail administration.

The letter written on August 2, a copy of which is also available with The Express Tribune, was sent by Mustafa who is behind bars for the last 11 years.

“Dear sir, corruption and illegal activities are at their peak inside the prison and are being supervised by the jail’s superintendent. His (the superintendent’s) men collect extortion money from prisoners,” it said. He claimed that if the home secretary does not initiate an inquiry himself and if jail staffers are ordered to look into the matter, they will never bring the facts on record.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2012.