Negligence: Official to blame for prisoner's suicide

LAHORE: A two-member inquiry committee constituted by the home secretary has held two assistant superintendents, a chief warden and a warder of the district jail in Jhang responsible for an under-trial prisoner’s suicide. Official sources said that the inquiry team comprising Faisalabad Prisons DIG Mirza Shahid Saleem Baig and Additional District Collector Haroon Rashid submitted their report to the home secretary. Imran, an under-trial prisoner, committed suicide by drinking a cleaning liquid. Warder Muhammad Riaz was supposed to keep the liquid away from prisoners. The report held ASI Javed Iqbal, duty officer Muhammad Akbar Khan, Warder Muhammad Riaz and Chief Warder Ahmad Ali responsible for gross negligence of duty. They had been suspended by prisons chief Mian Farooq Nazeer.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2013.