FAISALABAD, Sept 16: The DIG prisons says the situation in the district jail is normal. Reacting to a report about strike by jail employees, he said in a statement he visited the jail on the evening of Sept 13 on the complaint of a citizen who was receiving calls from a cell phone in the custody of a prisoner in barrack 4.

He said the jail superintendent and the staff recovered the mobile phone from the prisoner. Subsequently, officials who were responsible for the presence of mobile phone with the prisoner were proceeded against by the superintendent who is the competent authority. Two of them were removed and one was forced to retire. The official who was deeply associated with the prisoner managed 20 to 25 `mischievous’ warders to agitate against the decision. Their demand was that the decision had been taken in haste and that they should be provided ample time to defend them. “I being the appellant authority considered their request and allowed a fresh inquiry and held the earlier decision in abeyance.”

After the redressal of their grievance, all the warders obeyed the authority. “It is to clarify that the complainant was not a friend to mine and that no prisoner has been tortured by any member of the jail administration,” the statement said.