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Dhaka Central Jail overcrowded

By Farid Ahmed
The Dhaka Central Jail currently has about 5.000 inmates. more than double its sanctioned capacity, with the authorities blaming the over-crowding on the otf-agaln on-agaln prison unrest.
Starting as a sub-Jail during the British colonial rule, the Dhaka Central Jail. the largest of the country's 74 prisons, has the capacity to hold 2.116 prisoners. Jail sources told The Dally Star.
But the number of inmates Including convicts, under-trial prisoners and those held for safe custody has swelled to nearly 5.000.
The inmates in the Centra) Jail account for 11 per cent of nearly 45.000 prisoner* held in the country's 74 jails.
At present about 200 women are being held prisoner In the Dhaka Central Jail as against the sanctioned capacity of 100, the sources said.
Twenty nine of a total of 106 prisoners, sentenced to death, are in the Dhaka Central Jail. The others are scattered In Jails across the country.
The prisoners in the-Dhaka Cent/al Jail include 1,700 inmates. convicted of various charges. The rest are either awaiting trial or being held for thetr safety
Jail officials speaking on condition of anonymity, admitted that overcrowding is one of the main reasons for occasional prison unrest.
But they pointed out the delay In disposing the cases of under-trial prisoners is a big factor for the overcrowding. There are prisoners, awaiting trial not only for months, but for years as well.
In contrast, the number of Jail wardens has remained low. According to officials the 700 wardens in the central Jail are not adequate to look after the 5.00 inmates.
The problem of overcrowding came to limelight when prisoners convicted by Ershad's Martial Law staged a revolt in the Dhaka Central Jail Dec 29.1990.
At least seven prisoners were killed during the three week revolt that also spread to Jails in Chittagong. Comllla and Jessore.
Following the release of some prisoners convicted during martial Law. the number of Inmates in the Dhaka Central Jail came down to 3.941 In February last year. Since then new prisoners pushed the number up to 5.000.
Jail officials Insisted that the congestion in the Central Jail could be eased through shifting of the Jail to the planned sites at Gazi pur and KcranlganJ.