Prisoners in Dhaka jail tripled

The police have arrested 13,000 political activists from all over the country in 37 days since the onset of the ongoing blockade, for their alleged involvement in acts of violence.

Over 700 cases have been filed in this connection.

As a result, the number of inmates in Dhaka central jail now has now been about three times its capacity, prison sources said. Normally the jails in Bangladesh hold twice their actual capacity.

Since the beginning of the blockade, the number of prisoners has gone up by 4,188.

And very few persons have been arrested on charges of common criminal offences in this span of time.

In this one month or so, 80% of the detainees have been accused of crimes relating to politics. Some 13,000 persons arrested are mostly from the BNP and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.

As many as 1049 vehicles have been damaged by petrol bombs, fire and other means in the 37 days, according to police records.

The police budget has been stretched to its limits in tackling the situation. They have asked for an additional allocation of Tk 1.26 billion for the next three months to meet the shortfall.

This is to be used for dry food, overtime, expenses of prisoners, fuel for the vehicles and various intelligence activities.

Additional inspector general of police (administration) Mukhlesur Rahman told Prothom Alo that the police personnel are having to work much longer hours than normal during these times.

"That is why additional facilities are required," he added.

However, the police said, the police have the situation under control.

A senior police officer said the police administration is concerned at the nationwide violence as expressed by several officials at the crime-related police conference held on 28 January.

Widespread arrests began since the onset of the blockade on 6 January this year. Three weeks from then, the police and BGB launched a joint operation in this regard.

In the initial phase of the operation, lists of the BNP and Jamaat leaders and activists in various localities were drawn up with the assistance of local Awami League leaders and workers.

Arrests were then made accordingly, nabbing these persons wherever they were found. Raids were conducted on the houses of these BNP and Jamaat leaders and activists.

However most of these persons had already gone into hiding and could not be arrested. The arrested persons range from central leaders to ward level activists.

There are allegations that the police are harassing the common people in the name of this drive, and extorting money by threatening them with arrest.

Certain jail officials have told Prothom Alo that under normal circumstances, the number of prisoners coming to the jail everyday is more or less equal to the number released. This keeps the number of inmates within limits.

But over the past one month, the number of prisoners entering jail, by far outnumbers the number being released on bail. The number is increasing by the day.

Before the onset of the nationwide blockade, the number of inmates in the 68 jails of the country was 67,614. On 8 February, this number increased to 71,802. The prisons have a capacity to hold 34,460 inmates.

The capacity of Dhaka central jail is 2,682. On 10 February, the number of inmates in the jail stood at about 7,500, almost three times the capacity.

The jail authorities are at a loss having to deal with this massive influx of prisoners. The concerned prison authorities apprehend that, at the present rate, the number of prisoners across the country will cross 100,000 within a week.

IG (prison) Iftekhar Ahmed told Prothom Alo that with the number of prisoners going up threefold, the jails are facing management problems. Some of the prisoners are being transferred on Friday and Saturday to the Kasempur jail in order to ease the pressure.

"The number of prisoners in jails outside of Dhaka hasn't increased as much as in Dhaka," he added.