RAWALPINDI, Oct 30: A high-powered committee constituted by the Inspector General Prisons, Punjab, during its search operation in Adiala Jail on Sunday recovered Rs100,000 from the prisoners and compiled lists of the officials posted at the jail for a long time, an official source said.

The four-member committee, comprising DIG Jail Rawalpindi Range Mian Salik Jilal and three other senior officials, was tasked with searching the jail for narcotics reportedly being smuggled into the jail with the connivance of officials.

The committee was also directed to name the officials posted at the prison for a long time and submit a report in this regard. At present, nearly 350 policemen are manning the jail, while there are six assistant superintendents and four deputy superintendents headed by a superintendent.

The source said the money recovered from the prisoners was deposited with the “prisoner property account” so as to enable them to use it judiciously and save it from the reach of the jail staff. However, the committee failed to recover narcotics or any other illegal item.

The source said the IG Prisons, Punjab, Sarfaraz Mufti, had recently requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to order the transfer of those officials, who had been posted at the prison for a long time, as he could not exercise his powers in this regard.

The jail was sealed on Friday night in the wake of the chief justice’s 15-day deadline given to the jail authorities to carry out reforms.

The chief justice’s directions came after a prisoner, Imran Saleem, filed a petition with the apex court alleging that one of the deputy superintendents was involved in corruption and that narcotics were being smuggled into the jail. Imran Saleem had been charged with vehicle theft and he was deputed by the jail authorities as an attendant (Mushakti) for the jailed PPP leader Yousuf Raza Gilani.