SUKKUR, May 25: Prisoners of the Sukkur Jail-II restored to violence on Wednesday and took the jail staff hostage for about 10 hours. However, no casualty was reported. At about 8am when the staff opened the jail to allow the prisoners to meet their relatives, a group of inmates, armed with wooden sticks and stones, attacked the jail staff and took them hostage and went to the roof-top of the prison.

When the Superintendent of the Jail, Captain (Retd) Abdul Majeed Siddiqui, along with a police party reached the place, the prisoners pelted them with stones and forced them to retreat.

In the meantime, a heavy contingent of district police cordoned the entire jail premises to control the situation.

The situation remained tense for about 10 hours after which the DIG Prisons, Major (Retd) Ghulam Hussain Khoso, DPO Sukkur, Aftab Halepoto and the Jail Superintendent, Captain (Retd) Abdul Majeed Siddiqui negotiated with the prisoners which resulted in release of the jail staff.

Later, talking to the negotiation team from the roof-top of the prison, representatives of the prisoners, including Ashiq Hussain Mirani, Ghulam Qadir and Nizamuddin Katpar, said that the jail authorities have subjected them to atrocities since last five years and they were not allowed even to attend the courts.

They said that following the operation of central jail-I, Sukkur, the prisoners of central jail-II were also subjected to torture by the staff on the pretext of a search operation.

They accused the jail staff of extortion from the relatives of the prisoners, who came to meet them, while more than half of the items brought by them were virtually snatched by the jail staff.

They demanded of the higher authorities to take action against those responsible for this.

Later, talking with the newsmen, the DIG prisons, Maj (Retd) Khoso, said that the police force was not being provided to us for taking the prisoners to the courts. Other problems were also prevailing in the jail, which was creating a sense of deprivation among the prisoners.

And taking the jail staff as hostage was an act to invite the attention of the higher authorities to meet their demands, he added. He, however, rejected the allegations of torture and illegal gratification.

Sukkur DPO Aftab Halepoto and District Naib Nazim Iqbal Dawood Pakwala told newsmen that the prisoners had been complaining of non-production in the courts, illegal gratification and snatching of items during the search operation. They said that: “we would submit reports to the Sindh chief minister and the home department.