LAHORE: The transfer and appointment of Faisalabad Central Jail head against a high-profile post, a day after the alleged murder of an inmate in his jurisdiction, that too without waiting for the findings of a probe ordered into the matter by prisons inspector general, puts a big question mark on the accountability mechanism of the Punjab home department.
Instead of holding accountable the Faisalabad jail superintendent for the incident taking place in his jurisdiction, the home department transferred and posted him as superintendent of high-profile Central Jail, Rawalpindi (also known as Adyala jail).
An official told Dawn that appointment as superintendent of Adyala jail is considered a “prized posting” in the prisons department.
Usually under-trial prisoners from Islamabad and Rawalpindi division are housed in Adyala jail that is also know for holding high-profile political figures, including former premiers Nawaz Sahirf and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was later hanged following a sham trial. Presently, Adyala jail was housing 4,337 prisoners against its authorised capacity of 1,994, the official record shows.
Home dept move raises eyebrows
Faisalabad Central Jail Superintendent Chaudhry Asghar was posted against the top slot of Adyala jail, Rawalpindi, a day after a young prisoner, Imran Musthaq (28), was allegedly tortured to death in the [Faisalabad] jail he was heading.
When father of the deceased inmate, Imran, reached the hospital following a phone call by an official, informing him that his son was admitted there for “treatment of some ailment”, he found his son lying dead there with several torture marks on various parts of his body.
The allegations of torture later proved true and the police lodged a murder case against 10 officials of the Central Jail, Faisalabad, on the complaint of Imran’s father.
Usually, following such serious crimes committed inside a prison, the superintendent of the jail concerned, is also questioned for any negligence, being the supervisory officer, and, in many cases, made an official on special duty (OSD) as a punishment, to ensure a fair departmental inquiry, the official says, adding that Mr Chaudhry’s case seems to be an exception.
Punjab home department issued a notification on Wednesday, appointing BS-18 officer Chaudhry Asghar as new superintendent of Adyala jail, Rawalpindi. Mr Ashgar replaced Sajid Baig as superintendent of Central Jail Rawalpindi, who was appointed there just a day back (on Tuesday).
The appointment of Mr Chaudhry against the high-profile post a day after posting of Mr Baig there raised many eyebrows in the prisons department.
Following the alleged murder of Imran in Faisalabad Central Jail, the Punjab inspector general of prisons had constituted a committee to probe into the incident and to determine the role of superintendent and other officials.
According to a notification issued on Tuesday in this respect, Punjab prisons DIG Kamran Anjum was made convener of the five-member inquiry committee. The other members included Faisalabad District Jail Superintendent Ali Akbar, Okara District Jail Superintendent Mian Umair and two medical officers (of Faisalabad District Jail) -- Dr Mohammad Arshad and Dr Mohammad Usman.
“The committee comprising five officers is hereby constituted to conduct a detailed fact-finding inquiry into the death of under-trial prisoner Imran in Central Jail Faisalabad”, reads the notification (a copy is available with Dawn).
It says the committee will immediately proceed to the Central Jail Faisalabad to record the statements of all the concerned officers, officials and prisoners and submit a detailed report,
while also fixing responsibility on delinquent officers/officials, prisoners (if any) regarding alleged torture of the deceased prisoner within next 24 hours.
The official wondered why home department didn’t even bother to wait for the findings of the inquiry committee in the prisoner’s murder case and posted Chaudhry Asghar against a high-profile slot in such a haste. This puts a big question mark on the home department’s accountability mechanism, he adds.
Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2022