ISLAMABAD: The Federal Prison Islamabad will also be brought under the surveillance of the Capital Safe City Authority to monitor convicted and undertrial prisoners and alert relevant authorities in real time to prevent any law and order situation inside the jail.

The system will also help identify undertrial prisoners and convicts through their criminal records, including any involvement in heinous crimes.

Officials told Dawn that CCTV cameras installed in and around the prison were being integrated with the authority’s network. More than 200 cameras have been installed in and around the jail, which also has a monitoring room.

The jail’s surveillance system is equipped with state-of-the-art sensors, 200 to 250 high-resolution cameras and advanced analytics.

The prison’s CCTV cameras are also being integrated with the Safe City system to strengthen surveillance and facilitate the real-time sharing of information about inmates.

The Safe City’s Facial Detection and Recognition System contains photographs and details of criminals and terrorists, including proclaimed offenders and court absconders. The system will check every inmate of the prison, including undertrial prisoners, and raise an alarm whenever CCTV cameras detect a person whose photograph is available in the system, enabling the authorities to take necessary legal and precautionary measures.

In the event of a law and order situation or any disturbance inside the prison, the Safe City’s surveillance system will alert relevant authorities and departments so they can reach the jail in real time.

The officials further said preparations for receiving inmates at the prison were almost complete and the authorities were awaiting a signal from the government. The shifting of prisoners is likely to begin after the formal inauguration of the jail.

A plan has also been prepared to transfer more than 1,500 prisoners from Adiala Jail to the Federal Prison Islamabad. In the first phase, around 100 to 200 prisoners will be shifted in the initial batch.

Under the first phase, undertrial prisoners will be transferred to the Islamabad prison, followed by convicts involved in white-collar crimes and those arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

Subsequently, prisoners involved in petty crimes will be shifted, followed by those serving sentences of one to two years.

In the final stages, convicts involved in heinous crimes and terrorism-related offences will be transferred, respectively.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2026