900 out of 2000 escaped prisoners still absconding

Around 900 prisoners, including convicts in death penalty cases or serving life sentences who escaped since the fall of Sheikh Hasina‍‍`s Awami League government due to a student-people mass uprising on August 5 have remained absconding.

After the fall of the Awami League government, prisoners created chaos in some prisons of the country. Some prisons were attacked and vandalized from outside. In this situation, more than two thousand prisoners escaped. Among them, 1100 prisoners have either returned or were arrested, but 900 prisoners are still absconding.

Brigadier General Syed Md. Motaher Hossain came up with the information while briefing reporters at the old Dhaka Prisons‍‍` headquarters on Tuesday.

During the period of change of power of the government, the infrastructure of many government institutions as well as the law enforcement agencies was damaged. The Prison Directorate was no exception. Security of several prisons were hampered and more than 2,000 inmates escaped from jails, he added.

He also said that processes have been continuing for proper investigation and disciplinary action against the corrupt officers and employees of the Directorate of Prisons. In this regard, the prisons department is giving an assurance that from now on, strict action will be taken against any officer-employee of the prison department if any evidence of corruption is found, he said.

He said with the aim of making the prison a real correctional institution along with making it a confidant of the service seekers, steps have already been taken to appoint important posts based on skills and qualifications along with preparing a training plan to increase the professional skills of the officers and employees.

The IG Prisons said, incidents of looting of ammunition from some prisons also took place and many prisons‍‍` officers and guards were seriously injured during the escape of inmates in some prisons. Besides, the residences of many prison officers and staff were also badly damaged. However, with immediate help from the army, the prison department was able to secure other prisons with indomitable bravery, he added.

Later, with the improvement of the law and order situation in the country, it was possible to bring back most of the prisoners who had escaped from the prison. Some of these prisoners were arrested voluntarily and others with the help of law enforcement agencies. This process is ongoing. A significant portion of the looted arms and ammunition have already been recovered from the prison, and the law enforcement agencies are continuing to recover the rest.