The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The country's 67 jails have now become overcrowded with thousands of detainees following the wholesale arrest of people by joint forces under the ongoing special anti-crime drives.

More than 12,500 people were arrested by joint forces during the last eight days of countrywide crackdown.

A total of 1,976 people were arrested from different parts of the country yesterday alone. Of them, 191 were arrested from different areas of the Dhaka city from Tuesday midnight to yesterday morning. Most of these detainees, who became the victims of wholesale arrests, are belonged to lower income groups. Many of these detainees were either small traders, vendors, garment workers, and day-labourers. They were arrested from slums, messes, roads, and footpaths.

After the arrest, the detainees are taken to the nearby police stations and put into the cells where they are to pass the whole night anxiously cursing their fates. In the morning, they are taken to the court through prison vans. Then they are produced before courts and the courts send them to jails.

On the other hand, relatives of the detainees have been crowding before the jails, including the Dhaka Central Jail every day. They throng the jail gate area from early in the morning to see their near and dear ones. The scenario of Dhaka Central Jail gate area has

totally changed following the mass arrest of people.

Relatives of majority of the detainees alleged that they were arrested just on suspicion. The detainees were not involved in any kind of criminal acts during their lifetime. Even, there are no cases against many of the detainees.

Some 50-60 prisoners were used to put into the Dhaka Central Jail earlier. But, following the special drive launched by the military-backed caretaker government, some 200 prisoners are being put into the Dhaka Central Jail every day.

Sources said at present the country's 67 jails have the accommodation capacity of 26,500 prisoners though 86,000 inmates stay inside the jails round the year. The Dhaka Central Jail has about 9,500 prisoners against its capacity of 2,682.

The conditions in jails have aggravated following the large-scale arrest of people from all over the country. As a result, the detainees are to live in suffocating and subhuman conditions in jails. A miserable condition has created in jails with so many detainees in just a few days.

The number of inmates in Dhaka Central Jail crossed 11,000 yesterday against the accommodation capacity of 2,600 prisoners.

There are allegations that the inmates in jails are not properly treated. They are kept in sub-human conditions.

Facilities and amenities for jail inmates are so scanty that they are now passing their days through a horrible situation.

Many of the prisoners have been falling sick everyday though there are only 16 doctors to treat about 86,000 inmates in the country's jails. None of the prisons and jail hospitals has a single nurse.

Visiting the Dhaka Central Jail yesterday morning this correspondent found that a large number of relatives thronged the jail gate to meet their near and dear ones. They brought clothes, foods and other essential items for the inmates. They were also eagerly looking for their arrested relatives who were arrested by joint forces during the last eight days. Some of the relatives were found crying failing to find their near and dear ones.