Multan jailer, deputy removed for ‘corruption’

LAHORE: The Punjab Home Department has removed the Central Jail Multan superintendent and his deputy on corruption charges and launched a departmental inquiry against them.

The officers were directed to report to the Inspectorate of Prisons, The News has learnt. According to Mirza Shahid Saleem Baig, Inspector General of Prisons Punjab, the officials have been suspended after daily The News published a story based on the inquiry report of the Directorate of Monitoring (DoM), Home Department Punjab.

According to the report, the DoM had asked the Home Department to suspend 23 officials of Central Jail Multan and hand them over to the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab.

The document available with The News revealed that an inquiry committee had recommended that Central Jail Multan Superintendent Jam Asif Iqbal and Deputy Superintendent Hafiz Qamarul Islam were involved in corrupt practices, extortion of money and seducing visiting female family members of prisoners.

The inquiry revealed that the jail officials exploited and allured visiting ladies of prisoners. The committee had launched an inquiry on the complaint of a prisoner, Khizer Hayat. The case was investigated and the statement of aggrieved lady was recorded. The jail officials also confessed to having illicit relationship with the lady.

Prisoner Khizer Hayat had divorced his wife after coming to know about her illicit relations with the jail officials. He has four children from the woman. The document revealed that the other 21 officials were directly involved in taking bribe and extortion of money from the prisoners. These officials include Medical Officer Dr Shahzad, head warders Rana Abdul Jabbar, Sadiq Baloch, Manzoor Ahmed, Abdul Shakoor, Sadiq Hussain, M Aslam, Irshad Ahmed, Allah Ditta, Asghar Ali, warders Habibur Rehman, Haq Nawaz and Naeem, lady warder Umme Kalsoom, electricians Shakeel and Shafiq Ahmed, storekeeper Ijaz, driver Shahbaz (attached with the superintendent), Abid Naeem driver (attached with deputy superintendent) and head clerk Shahzad.

The IGP Prisons said no one was above the law and legal action was being taken against all of them. "We have constituted another inquiry committee to probe the matter. The committee consists of two Deputy Inspectors General (DIGs) and other senior officials. They will be penalised if proved guilty by the inquiry committee, added the IGP.

Sources in the Home Department claim that senior officials of the Directorate of Prisons and the Home Department want to save the skin of the 23 officials and that’s why another inquiry committee had been formed.

The IG Prisons dispelled the impression, and said the inquiry conducted by the DoM was done in haste. The superintendent and deputy superintended were removed immediately so that they could not influence the new inquiry. Even If a prisoner complains anonymously, the Prisons Department holds an inquiry for welfare of the prison. He said the Prisons Department believes in zero tolerance against corruption and harassment of prisoners and takes strike action against the officers involved in such acts.

When a top official of the Home Department was contacted and asked why action had not been taken against the remaining 21 officials, who were directly involved in corruption practices and extortion of money, he said they could not suspend all of them in one go as it would bring the whole system of the prison to a halt. They would face the law and get punishment if proved guilty in the inquiry initiated recently, he added.