Some old inmates would be released from prisons while some new would be arrested and jailed and hence the administration of Prisons in Sindh had been directed to make necessary preparations to deal with the in-and-out situation inside prisons soon. Former President General Pervez Musharraf(Retd) would leave for abroad in last week of the current month (August-2014) and that would be the turning point for some to promenade out and for some to be paraded inside the jail.
Sindh Minister for Prisons, Anti-Corruption Establishment, Mines and Minerals Manzoor Hussain Wassan expressed these views Monday on the occasion of provisioning of latest weapons to jail security at Central Prison Karachi. Inspector General of Police (Prisons) Nusrat Hussain Mangan and Jail Superintendents of various jails of the province were present.
He said that chances were high that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman and Pakistan Awami Tehreek Chairman Dr Tahirul Qadri would reach Islamabad to be seated there for some time; therefore, the federal government should make serious efforts for resolving the issues politically like Pakistan People's Party had done politically for similar situation in the past. Political issues could never be resolved with the use of force, he added.
He said the political forces should show serenity over fast deteriorating political scenario because failing to play the required political role for control of the ongoing political unrest, the situation could slip out of hands.
He said Pakistan People's party would not support any unconstitutional step and despite a desire for general elections, the PPP would also be happy with midterm elections. He said that Prison Security personnel (Jail Police) had been provided with 300 G-3 rifles, 250 sub-machine guns, 100 repeater guns, 250 9mm calibre pistols, 1000 spare magazines, 300 bullet proof vests, 300 bullet proof helmets and 200,000 bullets. He said that in addition to provisioning of latest weapons, special ant-terrorism training was also being imparted to Jail police personnel.
He said prisons in Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur were sensitive and vulnerable to bids of terrorism and hence the security of those jails was being equipped with latest weapons. In order to ensure foolproof security of vulnerable jails in Sindh, bomb-proof high walls would be constructed around jails.
He said a new prison would be constructed in Jamshoro for high profile criminals, which would cost Rs 1 billion because the number of prisoners in Central Prison Karachi and Karachi Juvenile Jail, Landhi was greater than the capacity and Sindh government wanted to construct at least one prison in each district of the province.