This year’s monsoon took away two Jacobabad prisoners

Release orders bore the signatures of two judges.

SUKKUR:

Two prisoners from Jacobabad were released on alleged fake orders amidst the confusion surrounding the shifting of inmates from Jacobabad to Sukkur jail after the monsoon rain.

After the downpour in September this year, 150 prisoners were shifted from District Jail, Jacobabad, to Central Jail-I, Sukkur, given the vulnerable state of the prison. Among these prisoners were two undertrial prisoners, Leemo Rind and Noor Muhammad Khoso, who were facing murder charges.

The inmates reached Sukkur during the second week of September and soon after their release orders were issued, said an official. On September 26, the Sukkur jail authorities received a release order for Rind bearing the signature of the second additional sessions judge, Jacobabad, Aftab Ahmed Shaikh.

The jail authorities claimed that they authorised the release of Rind on September 28, after confirming the release order from the judge’s office.

A similar order was sent for Khoso, who was released on October 24. These release orders, which carried the signature of the first additional sessions judge, Ramesh Kumar, were hand delivered by the court peon, Nazir Dasti.

Later, the bail of these two prisoners came to the attention of the district and sessions judge, Jacobabad, Amjad Hussain Buhio, who ordered that the two inmates be produced in court immediately. According to an official, the jail authorities presented the release orders that bore the signature of the first and second additional sessions judges, who had a hard time detecting the forgery.

The judges have now ordered an inquiry into the fake orders and directed the jail authorities to conduct an inquiry at their end as well, claimed an officer.

Sukkur Central Jail-I superintendent Shahid Hussain Chijjan told The Express Tribune that the two prisoners were release when the orders came. He denied, however, that the authorities knew the orders were fake. It is routine practice that after receiving the release order of a prisoner, it is reconfirmed from the relevant court, he said.

In this particular case, the jail officials received release orders through either a courier service or were hand delivered, he said, adding that the inmates were released only after thorough confirmation. Chijjan confirmed that separate inquiries are being held at the courts and the jail.

An official also said that Buhio has appointed senior civil judge Intisar Yousuf Shaikh as an inquiry officer. Sources said that all fingers are pointing towards a clerk at the district and sessions court, who is facing an inquiry.

Meanwhile, the Sukkur jail superintendent has filed an FIR at Rohri police station for the arrest of the two prisoners.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2012.