Adiala Jail prisoners hope for miracles

Rawalpindi: As many as 251 ‘death penalty’ prisoners Adiala Jail are under strict watch. Thirty four ‘death penalty’ prisoners have filed appeals in Supreme Court, while three ‘death penalty’ prisoners have filed ‘forgiveness’ appeals before the President and are waiting for further decisions.

According to data collected from Deputy Superintendent Adiala Jail that there are total 5,000 prisoners, including under-trial prisoners and high profile prisoners are settled in jail. There are 251 prisoners waiting for ‘death penalty’, 1,669 are in category of ‘rigorous imprisonment’ while 25 prisoners are involved in simple cases and 50 prisoners are in category of civil cases. Others are under-trial prisoners.

It is worth mentioning here that 27 under-trial prisoners in Adiala Jail are looking for philanthropists to pay their fine for their release as they got bails from courts. The area (barracks) where ‘death penalty’ prisoners settled in Central Jail, Adiala is ‘No Go’ area for common prisoners and under-trial prisoners.

The prisoners, under-trial prisoners and particularly ‘death penalty’ prisoners told ‘The News’ that they are continuously facing cold weather related diseases in overcrowded Adiala Jail due to absence of natural gas. They are facing cold weather without natural gas in stoves in Central Jail, Rawalpindi.

They also said that Adiala Jail is a difficult place for prisoners as they are facing a multitude of problems, including unhygienic food, shortage of water and absence of natural gas in stoves even to warm water.

Central Jail Adiala, Rawalpindi Deputy Superintendent Chaudhry Muhammad Farrukh Rashid told ‘The News’ that we are strictly monitoring all prisoners particularly 251 ‘death penalty’ prisoners and high profile cases prisoners. He has admitted that we are facing absence of natural gas for more than three months therefore prisoners facing problems. We have met General Manager (GM) SNGPL to provide us natural gas, he said.

He also said that at present there were total 5000 prisoners in jail while the prison has a capacity to house 1996 inmates only. “More than 100 prisoners are put in a single room meant for 36 inmates. For this reason, prisoners face shortage of water and other necessities of life,” he said.

He said that 34 ‘death penalty’ prisoners have filed appeals in Supreme Court while 3 ‘death penalty’ prisoners filed appeals of ‘forgiveness’ before President. We are waiting further decisions of higher authorities in this regard, he said. He also said that District and Sessions Judge and additional session judges continuously visiting six times in a month in Adiala Jail. Judges also pay fine amount of under-trial prisoners to release them, he claimed.