LAHORE: Corruption, intimidation, use of narcotics and extortion of money from jail accounts of inmates, especially those who are on death row, is rampant 'beyond any shadow of doubt' in district jail Gujrat which led to the riot fallout earlier this month.
These were some of the findings of an inquiry committee constituted to investigate the riot fallout in Gujrat jail on July 2 in which several inmates and officials were injured. After the incident, the Punjab government suspended two senior officials of Gujrat jail - Superintendent Abdul Ghafoor Anjum and Deputy Superintendent Sarmad Hassan - for 90 days on charges of corruption, misconduct, inefficiency and negligence. Six jail warders were also suspended after the riot.
The committee, headed by Commandant Punjab Prisons Staff Training College Sahiwal Salik Jalal, declared that both Abdul Ghafoor and Sarmad were hand in glove with their juniors in an organized corruption as "Roznamcha" of prisoners revealed that Rs.100 to Rs.500 from each amount deposited by the relatives of inmates in their personal property accounts (PPAs) was being deducted on "regular basis".
"During the inquiry, almost 95 percent prisoners verbally as well as in their statements complained about rampant corruption in the jail which proved (true) without any shadow of doubt and the corrupt practices are one of the major causes behind the riot incident on July 2," the inquiry report states, a copy of which is available with this scribe.
It says that another important fact regarding organized corruption was unearthed when some senior officers found frequently changing the confinement places of at least 12 identified death row inmates to extort money from them. Surprisingly, the rates of essential commodities were never changed but these items, including food, were being sold at exorbitant prices which too proved organized corruption, the report regrets.
Similarly, the inquiry committee in its findings says that after reviewing the record of PCO register and statements of prisoners it emerged that only "blue-eyed" inmates having the capacity to pay Rs 15,000 per month are allowed to call on mobile numbers while all the other prisoners who deny giving any money were only allowed to call on PTCL numbers. "The state of corruption in the jail was at its peak as during the inquiry proceedings a prisoner namely Babar Ali recorded his statement on the spot saying when he went inside the PCO booth, the PCO operator demanded Rs 1,000 for that call even in the presence of inquiry officer inside the jail. The influential prisoners were facilitated repeatedly to call on mobile numbers for long hours," the report reveals.
It further says that instead of sending actual miscreants - Basharat and Anjum - to the punishment block, the staff of Central Watch Tower after receiving illegal gratification sent Saddam, an unconfirmed condemned prisoner (UCCP), to the block which ignited the riot. The UCCP prisoners are called death row inmates.
"On the pretext of whitewashing, Rs 1,000 is received as illegal gratification from every cell by the jail staff. In addition, Rs 1,000 is extorted from each death row inmate every month by the in-charge of UCCP block and Rs 70,000 was being provided to the chief head warder by every in-change," it reveals.
"Being the front man of (suspended) Superintendent Abdul Ghafoor, Warder Zafar used to extort Rs 400,000 to Rs 500,000 every week as he has a vast network of corruption," the report says, adding that Rs 20,000 are received as illegal gratification for removal of a prisoner from the punishment block.
Holding responsible Abdul Ghafoor Anjum and Sarmad Hassan for organized corruption, the team observed that their misconduct, inefficiency and negligence resulted in the riot fallout that also damaged five cellular jammers inside the jail, five CCTV cameras and all registers containing the record of the Central Watch Tower besides walls of barrack enclosure and buildings of juvenile ward and Central Watch Tower.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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