PESHAWAR, Oct 11: NWFP Governor Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai has sought a report from the prisons department regarding prisoners who have been arrested under the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).

Mr Aurakzai issued this directive during a visit to the Central Prison in Peshawar here on Thursday. He inspected various sections of the jail where he was briefed about the state of the prisoners.

He directed the authorities concerned to collect data about prisoners who had been put in various jails of the province under the FCR. The governor said the government planned to construct a central jail in each tribal agency so that prisoners belonging to that region could be accommodated there. Presently prisoners arrested under the FCR are placed in various jails of the NWFP.

A prisoner hailing from a neighbouring country requested the governor for the provision of cable television network and game facilities in the jail’s barracks, which was approved.

During the briefing, Jail Superintendent Masood-ur-Rehman informed the governor that the prison building had become overcrowded and the prisoners were facing various problems due to lack of space.

He said the capacity of the building, constructed in 1854, was 850 but a total of 2,287 prisoners had been lodged there.

Mr Aurakzai was informed that the provincial government planned to construct a new jail building which proposal had been approved. He was told that the building would be constructed on the existing premises.

The governor added that several portions of the existing jail building would be preserved and declared a protected site.