NAROWAL: Prisoners from Sialkot Central Jail have been shifted to the newly constructed district jail in Narowal.

The town was accorded the status of district in 1990. District courts were set up, a district and sessions judge was also appointed but prisoners were kept at Sialkot jail. After 19 years (in 2009), the foundation stone was laid for the construction of a modern jail in the district. The jail was opened by Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Saturday.

Sprawling over 52 acre land, the jail has been constructed at a cost of Rs1bn. It can accommodate 1,000 inmates and resembles prisons in Europe and America. Separate cells have been constructed for different categories of prisoners and death convicts.

Eight association barracks, separate cells for ladies and children, two children ward cells, two ladies (accused) cells, one kitchen barrack cell, a huge godown and a mosque are part of the jail. A sports hall has also been established to develop healthy activities among inmates. Two filtration plants have been set up. For the facility of prisoners, a 12-bed hospital has been built as well. An automatic laundry is also part of the prison. A security system has been set up to deal with brawls (if any) among prisoners. A courtroom has been constructed to hear cases of most dangerous prisoners. Rooms have been built to quiz inmates while a death house (for executions) is also part of the prison.

Adjacent to the jail are the residencies of 217 employees, including that of the superintendent and deputy superintendent. A post office and separate schools for boys and girls have been set up to facilitate prisoners and police employees besides dispensary.

Prior to the construction of the building, prisoners were brought from Sialkot central jail to produce them before courts at Narowal, Shakargarh and Zafarwal.

A resident, Sajjad Husani Mufti, said: “People had been going to meet their near and dear ones at Sialkot [jail] by hiring vehicles on broken road for the last 26 years. The [prison] vans were usually overloaded and sometimes would break down on way to Narowal, causing a great deal of trouble for inmates and jail staff. Now the travel cost of relatives of prisoners will decrease.”

Narowal Deputy Commissioner Ali Anan Qamar said, “More than 300 inmates from Silakot have been shifted here. ”

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2017