report in Dawn, Dec 12, 2020
KOHAT: Over 500 prisoners are being kept at the Kohat jail against its capacity of 108 as work on construction of two additional blocks has been delayed for unknown reasons.
Life of the inmates is at risk as the Covid-19-induced SOPs are not being observed.
An employee of the prison department confided to Dawn on contact that whenever a high official or minister visited the jail the administration provided masks and senitisers to the inmates. He said no one was interested in resolving the limited space problem in the facility.
He said the jail had been shifted to the Bannu Road from the center of the city following riots among the inmates as some high-profile terrorists were kept there.
He recalled that when 156 Al-Qaeda members were arrested in Parachinar the jail had been completely vacated for them and all the prisoners were shifted to Bannu and DI Khan prisons.
“About 60 per cent of the jail is under the army control to keep watch on high profile terrorists,” said assistant commissioner Talha Zubair. He said such dangerous prisoners could not be moved to any other place because the army had no such facilities. He, however, said the administration would discuss the matter with the army authorities to find some viable solution to the problem.
Mr Zubair said except Abbottabad jail no Covid-19 case had been found at any other facility as tests of prisoners were conducted from time to time.
About the limited space he said two more blocks, including for women, had been under-construction. He said it was responsibility of the jail authorities to ensure provision of masks to the prisoners…….
https://www.dawn.com/news/1595315/kohat-jail-houses-over-500-inmates-against-capacity-for-108
