Dhaka – All the inmates of the Dhaka Central Jail have been moved to the new prison facility at Rajendrapur in Keraniganj.
Six vans carrying the last batch of 184 prisoners entered the new jail at 9:50pm on Friday, ending the 200-year old life of the jail at Nazimuddin Road in Lalbagh of Capital Dhaka. Dhaka Central Jail sources said all 6,511 inmates were transferred on the day.Deputy Inspector General of Prisons AKM Fazlul Haque said the top prison officials welcomed the inmates to the new jail with flowers. “The shifting was supposed to take two days. But we could do it within a day because of the fast-paced work,” he said.
The process to shift prisoners of Dhaka Central Jail to its newly-built facility in Keraniganj got underway on Friday morning amid additional security.
The jail authorities started the shifting process around 5:30 am and it will continue till Saturday evening, sources from Dhaka Central Jail said.
Around 800 police personnel have been deployed in and around the Dhaka Central Jail to avert any untoward incident and ensure that the shifting process runs smoothly.
Sources at the Dhaka Central Jail said 6,000 prisoners will be shifted to the new jail on Friday and Saturday.
Inspector General (IG) of Prisons Brig Gen Syed Iftekhar Hossain himself is monitoring the transfer process of prisoners.
All-out security measures have been taken deploying police, with Rab and other law enforcement and intelligence agencies in different strategic points on roads leading to the new central jail from old one.
Earlier on April 10, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally inaugurated the new Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj.
Though the prisoners were scheduled to be shifted to the new central jail by April, it had not been possible for various reasons, including security.
The new central jail has been built on 194.41 acres of land, and cost a total of Tk406 crore.
Of the 4,000 accommodation capacity in the new central jail, 100 seats have been arranged for male adolescents, 30 for mentally-challenged male prisoners, 200 for woman inmates, 40 for female adolescent prisoners, and 20 for female mentally-challenged prisoners.
Besides, 60 classified wards and 400 cells have also been constructed for dangerous prisoners.
A 200-bed hospital and a daycare centre have also been set up on the new jail premises at Rajendrapur under South Keraniganj, adjacent to Dhaka-Mawa Highway. – UNB
