Shoddy recordkeeping: NADRA to verify records of Karachi prisoners

Officials say Rangers fear records of prisoners may have been altered

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has ordered the country’s top registration body to verify the record of prisoners held in various jails in Karachi after the Sindh Rangers expressed fear that many inmates’ record could have been altered.

Informed officials told The Express Tribune on Wednesday that the police could not verify the records of various prisoners in Karachi. With the help of police, the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) has identified four prisoners in Karachi jails, they said.

“The interior minister has directed NADRA to verify the record of all such prisoners in Karachi,” a senior official said. The provincial government, the police and Sindh Rangers will coordinate with NADRA for verification of prisoners’ data, he added.

A senior official who did not want to be named said in some cases actual convicts were replaced with people who had nothing to do with the cases in question. “All this happens with the connivance of jail authorities,” he said.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar on Wednesday ordered an inquiry to expose a racket to illegally send Pakistani prisoners in Thailand to Islamabad. Senior government officials serving with the interior ministry and Pakistan embassy in Bangkok are involved in the racket, an official statement said.

“A high-powered committee will investigate these officials … [and] produce its findings before the interior minister within ten working days,” the statement said. “Strict action will be taken against involved officials of Pakistan Embassy [at Bangkok] and other officials [Ministry of Interior] — as the committee determines the responsibility.”

Interior Minister has also sought an explanation from senior officials of the interior ministry and the Federal Investigation Agency as to how these prisoners were transferred without permission from authorities concerned in Pakistan.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam denied anyone from the foreign ministry was involved in any wrongdoing.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th, 2015.