December 05, 2006	Tuesday	Ziqa'ad 13, 1427

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LAHORE, Dec 4: Findings of the three-member body which conducted a probe into the lip stitching of a prisoner allegedly by some Kot Lakhpat Jail staffers have left several queries unanswered.

Abdur Razzaq, 35, a resident of Burewala, who had been in the jail for over three years on charges of attempted murder, had appeared in the court of Tariq Mahmood Shad on Saturday, with stitched lips, alleging that the brutal act was done by some prison officials after he could not pay them the monthly bribe money.

The probe team, comprising Punjab prisons DIG Salik Jalal and two deputy-secretaries, had concluded on Sunday that the prisoner had himself sewn up his lips with the help of another inmate. The only purpose behind staging the stitching drama was to blackmail the jail officials and secure facilities at the prison, the inquiry report said.

However, the report did not answer queries like as to how the prisoner managed to stitch his own lips on board a van, and how it was possible in the presence of other inmates on way to a court? Even, if he did so, his fresh wounds should have been bleeding when he appeared in the court. And, how did the prisoner manage to carry with him a needle and thread, besides a razor, which he and his accomplice used to shave off the head and eyebrows of another inmate on board the prison van.

“We just collected facts of the incidents. According to our findings, the prisoner, with the help of another inmate, Lala Amir, sewed up his lips. It did not happen on the jail premises. He did it either on way to the court or inside the lock-up on the court premises,” the DIG told Dawn. He added the probe committee also took into consideration the medical report of the prisoner. The medical report said the wounds on his lips had been inflicted within 12 hours of his examination. The prisoner himself admitted before the probe committee that he did the drama to secure facilities in the prison, which he was not entitled to, he added.

The DIG said the probe committee had forwarded the findings to prisons department IG and home secretary, who would take any action, if required, against the prison officials for their negligence.

Razzaq had alleged that he used to pay Rs5,000 per month to jail officials Arshad and Abid, who, in return, would provide him certain `facilities’. He had further alleged the officials would subject him to physical torture whenever he failed to pay the money. Last month, the prisoner had told the court, he could not manage the money due to his sister’s wedding, which invited wrath of the jail officials, who detained him in `special’ prisoners’ cell. In the cell, he added, he had been denied food for 10 days and, later, his lips were sewn up when he attempted to protest against the situation.

The inquiry report said the prisoner, in the past, had also been committing violation of the jail manual. In May this year, it added, the prison officials recovered a cell phone from the prisoner, who could not explain from where he got the phone. As a punishment, the report said, the prisoner was kept in the special cell.

In the cell, the inquiry report said, the prisoner used to ask for change of his cell and other facilities, which he was not entitled to.

STOLEN: A car was stolen from 163-Sikandar Block, Allama Iqbal Town, while three motorcycles were taken away from Dharampura, Rang Mahal and Kot Lakhpat areas.

GANG BUSTED: Kot Lakhpat police claimed to have arrested six members of an inter-provincial gang, and recovered looted valuables, besides illegal weapons, from their possession.

The arrested were identified as Imran alias Dhamaka, Mansha, Badar Munir, Ameen, Shahzad and Allah Rakha of Dhamaka gang. The police seized a motorcycle, five cell phones and illegal weapons from their possession.