MANSEHRA: Superintendent of district jail, Mansehra, Abdul Qayyum has sought additional security for the prison and demanded installation of modern equipment to effectively repulse any attack on the jail.

Mr Qayyum made the demand for enhancement of security during the visit to the jail by deputy commissioner Amir Khattak, assistant commissioner Qasim Ali Khan and deputy superintended of police Zulfiqar Khan Jadoon here the other day.

Sources privy to the development said the jail superintendent told the visiting officials that following the Dera Ismail Khan jailbreak a contingent of 50 personnel of elite force and police was deployed around the jail along with an armored personnel vehicle, which were later withdrawn when the situation returned to normalcy.

They said that the deputy commissioner and his subordinates had visited the jail twice since the attack on Army Public School, Peshawar, on Dec 16 and reviewed security measures being taken by the jail administration.

Prisoners from Torghar, Abbottabad are also kept in this prison

The jail superintendent told the officials that the security, which was provided following the attack on DI Khan jailbreak, should be restored to the same level in view of the current situation.

Mr Qayyum said that the night vision system and heavy machineguns, which were removed following normalcy of the law and order situation, should be reinstalled at the Mansehra jail as part of effective security measures in view of the Peshawar attack.

When contacted, the superintendent of district jail, Mansehra, Abdul Qayyum said that he had apprised the district administration of the ground situation and security requirements of the jail.

He said that the Abbottabad jail, which was having the gallows, was destroyed in the 2005 earthquake and now Mansehra jail was the only one with the same structure in the entire Hazara.

The Mansehra jail has been accommodating over 550 convicted and under-trial prisoners of Mansehra, Torghar and Abbottabad districts.

The reconstruction work of Abbottabad jail, which was destroyed in October 2005 earthquake, is in progress and prisoners of Abbottabad jail are currently being kept in Mansehra jail.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2014