May 08, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 20, 1428

RAWALPINDI, May 7: Waiting in the ‘Bakshi Khana’, a temporary lockup situated in the district courts, for the hearing of their cases seems to be a never-ending ordeal for the under- trial prisoners.

The situation at the courts is pathetic as around 400 under- trial prisoners, shackled and handcuffed, are brought there daily from Adiala jail for the hearing of their cases.

Out of the 400, about 150 prisoners are brought to Islamabad where they are crammed into a small room that has a capacity for about 50 people. The ‘Bakshi Khana’ has only one toilet and no window for ventilation.

Most of the under-trial prisoners, who are put in the Bakshi Khana, would prefer to remain in jail despite the fact that the number of prisoners there has reached more than 6,000.

Increase in the jail’s population is linked to the existing judicial crisis. The lawyers’ strike has greatly affected the courts’ proceedings and delayed the release of many prisoners.

A jail official, on condition of anonymity, gave another reason behind the increase in the number of prisoners in Adiala jail. He said people booked for possessing small quantity of narcotics or for minor offences are not given bail by the courts in Rawalpindi, leading to an increase in the number of prisoners.

At times the under-trial prisoners are taken back to the jail without being produced before the concerned court and sometimes they have to wait from morning till evening for their call without any food.

The prisoners are extended facilities only when they or their relatives grease the palms of the policemen guarding them.

The relatives of the prisoners either provide food to them in the Bakshi Khana or when they are alighting from the prisoners’ van. They are not allowed to meet the prisoners due to security reasons. However if they fulfil the ‘demands’ of the policemen, these restrictions are eased. Due to poor security, chances of prisoners escaping are high.

An under-trial prisoner, who identified himself as M. Javaid, told this correspondent that two under-trial prisoners managed to escape from Islamabad in the recent past as a result of poor security at Bakshi Khana where seven to 10 prisoners are guarded by one policeman.

“There are always security risks. We have problems because the number of security staff is less than the prisoners,” a security guard said.