Pak inmates to get extra security in state
Security in jails housing Pakistani inmates across the state has been stepped up to prevent any attack on them in the wake of the assault on Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh in a Lahore jail.
Jails in Maharashtra house at least three Pakistani prisoners, including a woman and they have been moved to high security barracks in their respective jails, sources said.
“We have beefed up security in jails housing Pakistani inmates across the state immediately after the Centre instructed us. We received orders soon after the Sarabjit incident happened. Jails in which Pakistani convicts and undertrials are lodged were individually communicated the orders and were asked to increase the security for the Pakistani inmates,” said Meeran Borwankar, additional director general of police (prisons), Maharashtra.
Singh, an Indian convict lodged in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail, was attacked by two fellow inmates Amir Tanba and Mudasir on Friday. Singh was brutally attacked with bricks and iron rods, which the assaulters accessed from under-construction sewerage lines. Singh continues to battle for his life at Lahore’s Jinnah Hospital.
Top officials in security establishments believe the attack may prompt inmates across jails in the country to avenge the assault by targeting Pakistani inmates, therefore orders to increase security were passed.
“Till June 2012, we had four Pakistani inmates in our jails, but after terrorist Ajmal Kasab was hanged in November 2012, the number has come down to three, which includes a woman undertrial. Their identity and locations can not be disclosed due to security reasons,” said Swathhi Sathe, deputy inspector general (prison-headquarter).
Jail sources said that Pakistani inmates were separated from hardcore criminals and dreaded prisoners in view of averting any untoward incidents. Inspector general of police (prison, south region), Vinod Lokhande said, “Though jails in my region don’t house any Pakistani inmate, I have informed jail authorities about the alert. All jails across the country have been asked to increase vigil in the backdrop of the Sarabjit episode in Lahore.”
As per the prison department, till June 2012 the jails across Maharashtra housed 572 foreign national inmates, which includes 119 convicts and 453 undertrials. Foreign nationals in state jails include 106 women inmates. Most of the foreign nationals in Maharashtra jails are Bangladeshis at 278, followed by Somalians (120), Nigerians (67), Nepalese (52) and South Africans (20).
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