PESHAWAR – More than 160 Taliban militants have established a state within state in the Central Jail Peshawar, one of the major prisons of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In these circumstances, the presence of notorious extremists has deprived the death cells’ inmates of joining their loved ones for sometime in according with decision of the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Judicial Committee.
The Judicial Committee, with the CJP in the chair, in its meeting on September 4 last year had reserved Wednesday as the ‘meeting day’ for the convicted prisoners in the jails throughout the country. On the allotted day, their relatives are allowed to meet each other. After decision, the inmates of death cells are enjoying opportunity in almost all the prisons but situation in the Central Jail Peshawar is different as the militant commanders have become instrumental in implementation of the prison manual.
Some reliable sources informed the Pakistan Today that for the last two weeks, the inmates of death cells are unable to avail the facility. The top imprisoned militants are given a chance to reach in front of death cells on each Wednesday morning and the jail wardens feel it awkward to let the women meeting their relatives in the presence of these militants. Some of the prison staffers, including assistant superintendents and head constables are not only helpless but they have even developed links with these extremists who are holding their own authority behind the bars.
It is important to recall that a number of leading militants from Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the affiliated groups are imprisoned in the Peshawar jail. Amongst them, Fazal Hameed from Parachinar Kurram Agency, sentenced to death on the charge of attacking an imam bargah in Rawalpindi, and Nadeem Abbas from Attock, involved in kidnapping and killing a Polish engineer, are prominent.
The chief of banned Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shariah-Muhammadi (TNSM) Maulana Sufi Muhammad along with his close aides is also in the jail. Another member of his group, Khalid commonly known as Khalid Baba, is considered a notorious terrorist.
