A small portion of the outermost wall of the Hyderabad Central Jail, one of the country’s most sensitive prisons, collapsed late Sunday night.
Although the 20-foot-wide section was repaired by Monday afternoon, the occurrence created panic about the security risk. Dozens of Rangers and police personnel manned the wall until the repairs were completed. The additional security measures also impeded the routine meetings of the prisoners with visitors.
The wall is located adjacent to the Government Zubeda Girls College. According to a prison official, three more walls lie between the outer wall and the prisoners’ barracks. “There was no threat to security,” he claimed.
Meanwhile, a senior army official visited the prison on Monday to review its security arrangements. The army, Rangers, Frontier Constabulary and district police are aiding the jail police in securing the prison.
A total of 191 convicts on death row, including dozens who were affiliated with banned militant organisations, are housed in the jail. The gallows in Hyderabad have been repaired and the jail authorities are ready to carry out executions as soon as the black warrants are issued. The last hanging to take place in Hyderabad Central Jail was on January 17, 2007, when Muhammad Sharif Chishti, a triple murder convict, was executed.
Now after eight years, at least three inmates of the 19th century Central Jail, Hyderabad, are waiting for their black warrants.
These inmates are Sabir Baloch and Shahsawar Baloch, the two convicts of the May 1998 PIA plane hijacking case, and Saleem Francis Masih, who was sentenced to death in a rape and murder case in June 2011. These inmates had filed mercy petitions in the presidency but their pleas were dismissed, according to jail officials.
