SAHIWAL: Following a sting operation by a Punjab Home department “internal source” that exposed Rs8 million to Rs9m monthly corruption in the Sahiwal Central Jail, Punjab Inspector General Prisons Mirza Shahid Saleem Baig has suspended nine jail officials, including the jail superintendent, from service.

The provincial Home department has deputed DIG (prisons) Tariq Mahmood Khan, Inspectorate of Prison, Lahore, to conduct a probe and furnish a report within 24 hours, with recommendations, regarding the scam.

Sahiwal Region DIG (prisons) Kamran Anjum has confirmed the suspension of nine officials. Dawn learnt from sources, Mr Khan has been asked to start investigation into the corruption scam on May 31 (today).

The DIG, through a letter, has summoned more than 25 jail employees, including the superintendent, deputy superintendents, assistant superintendents and warders, along with the relevant record.

As per sources the action was taken on a report prepared by an “unidentified internal source” of Home department, who personally visited Sahiwal jail under the guise of a visitor and observed how the visitors had to grease palms of jail officials at different levels to meet the under-trial and convicted prisoners.

As per the jail schedule, the visitors are allowed to meet the inmates five days a week (Monday to Friday) in different categories, including murder convicts, Hawalatees, those undergoing 25-year term, drug traffickers and political or religious ones.

The Home department report mentions complaints about the Sahiwal jail corruption, lodged by the visitors who allegedly had to bribe officials for meeting the inmates.

The report says daily 100-125 people visit the jail to meet the inmates in different categories.

It mentions that the “source” had to pay Rs300-Rs500 as bribe at various levels and the amounttotaled up to Rs2,370 till he finally reached the meeting shed on the jail premises.

It also mentions the names and ranks of the jail officials the “source” had to bribe, who include warders doing different duties and even the phone operator.

The reports says that if calculated on the basis of visitors per day and the bribe each of them has to pay, the daily bribe amount collected at the Sahiwal Central Jail totals up to Rs270,000 in cash and it swells to eight to nine million rupees monthly.

The inquiry officer has also sought the computerised record and the CCTV footage of the visitors’ meeting with the prisoners from Jan 1, 2021 to May 29, 2021.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2021