KARACHI: All inmates, including an accused charged with murder of former managing director of erstwhile Karachi Electric Supply Company Shahid Hamid, detained in the Karachi central prison are being screened for Covid-19 after some prisoners were found infected with coronavirus, an antiterrorism court was informed on Tuesday.

This was disclosed in a letter submitted by the prison superintendent to the ATC-III, which had issued the production order for accused Mohammad Minhaj Qazi and Mehboob Ghufran, alias Atar.

Both the accused have been charged with murder of the then KESC MD Shahid Hamid in Defence Housing Authority in July 1997.

The city’s penitentiary is said to be housing some 3,500 inmates against the sanctioned capacity of around 2,400.

In the letter, the prison superintendent informed that in response to the court’s production order the custody of the accused Minhaj could not be shifted from prison, where some inmates had been declared positive for coronavirus by doctors at the Indus Hospital and the District Health Officer, East.

Therefore, the testing process of all prisoners is under way, the prison chief mentioned and excused for not shifting the custody of Minhaj Qazi.

In another letter, the superintendent of the district jail, Malir, also informed that the accused Mehboob Ghufran could not be produced before the court following spread of the deadly virus.

The judge directed the superintendents of both the prisons to ensure production of the two accused on the next date and fixed the matter on July 4.

The judge also repeated notice to the investigating officer of the case, Sarwar Khan, directing the SSP concerned to ensure his presence before the court on the next date.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2020