The Balochistan Home Department on Monday cancelled around 200 recently-made appointments in the Prisons Department.

Officials in the Home and Tribal Affairs Department said that blue-eyed candidates were appointed in Prisons Department in an alleged violation of merit and rules.

The appointments were cancelled on the directives of Balochistan Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti. The Prisons Department had recently recruited wardens, clerks, assistants and others on vacant posts.

However, a senior officer in Balochistan Prisons Department, who declined to be named since he was not authorised to speak to the media, revealed to Dawn.com that the "posts were sold out by some elements inside the department".

"Each post for warden was sold out in Rs0.3 million," he claimed.

It is pertinent to mention that the vacancies in Balochistan Prisons Department were cancelled for the second time. Earlier, a merit list was compiled but at the eleventh hour the postings were cancelled.

"We will ensure the implementation of merit this time," the officials in provincial home department said.

the posts will now be advertised in the newspapers for the third time.