Drugs tossed over wall into Bogura district jail, guards involved

After the incident of four convicts drilling a hole in the ceiling and escaping from Bogura jail, the inadequacies of the security system there came to light along with all sorts of crimes and irregularities. There are allegations of a drug ring operating within the jail. Security of this prison has been questioned several times, but no measures have been taken.

Sources within the jail say that the prison guards within the premises are referred to as "jail babu". Many of these "jail babus" are directly involved in supplying drugs. Drugs enter the jail in two ways. One is through the prison officials. The other is by throwing drugs from outside over the western wall of the jail.

Speaking to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, a prison guard said that all sorts of untoward incidents take place in the prison centering narcotics. In 2022 a prisoner attacked and injured an officer of the police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) with a blade over the control of the drug trade in the prison. The prisoner had been involved in the drug trade in jail.

Allegations of the free influx of drugs in Bogura jail are nothing new. The expelled Sramik League leader accused in the sensational case of raping a student and abusing women in Bogura in 2018 was also alleged to be using drugs inside the jail. He was later transferred to the Kashimpur prison.

Sources in the prison told Prothom Alo that last October the body of a Bogura jail prison guard was recovered. It was later learnt that he used to use drugs inside the jail. CC camera footage also revealed two guards taking drugs inside the prison. This was also revealed in internal investigations of the jail authorities.

In the meantime, Prothom Alo spoke to two persons accused of murder who had been in jail for over a year. They were recently released. They told Prothom Alo that they were both drug users and would get their drugs through the prison guards. They would have to pay steep prices for the drugs.

There is a quarterly jail inspection committee led by Bogura deputy commissioner Saiful Islam that keeps an eye of the state of the prison and its various problems. Other than the deputy commissioner, the committee also includes the civil surgeon, social welfare officer as a few government and non-government representatives. A team led by the deputy commissioner also inspects the jail every month.

Bogura's deputy commissioner told Prothom Alo, there are even allegations that drugs are supplied to the jail by throwing these over the wall. So far no one has been caught red-handed in the act.    

Prothom Alo spoke to a person accused in a murder case at the Shahjahanpur police station in Bogura. He had been 11 months in jail and was recently released. He said if you pay money in Bogura jail, you can get anything. Many powerful inmates pretend to be unwell as stay in the medical ward instead of the normal cells. They get good meals and beds there. They can even take drugs freely. They have separate people to tend to the needs.

The accused person spoke of at least six powerful persons who were staying in the wards on pretext of illness. The accused had a political "big brother" who spent his entire prison term in the medical ward.

A source of the jail told Prothom Alo that many people fell sick in the jail, but there was no space for them in the medical ward. The entire medical ward was taken up the powerful prisoners. These prisoners could have visitors whenever they wanted.

The district administration from beforehand had been expressing concern over the security at Bogura district jail. A source in the district administration told Prothom Alo, there is only one wall in the entire jail. It has repeatedly been said that another wall was required within the prison.

The district administration official said that the jail had been constructed during the British rile and so the Korotoa building and the condemned cells were in a dilapidated condition. And anyway, it had not been right to keep four death row prisoners together in the condemned cell. This itself was a serious security breach.

Calls were made yesterday, Thursday, to the mobile phones of the Bogura district jail superintendent and the jailer for their comments, but they did not reply. They did not reply to the SMS sent to them either.

Deputy commissioner Saiful Islam told Prothom Alo, they had given various directives about the infrastructure of the jail as well as security, after their inspections. The district administration even took measures to resolve some of the existing problems.