For some top listed outlaws of the country, life inside jail has been one of ultimate luxury and pleasure, thanks to some unscrupulous prison staff.
It is more like having Aladdin’s “Genie” at one’s expense. The only difference is that Genie would only serve three desires, while some of these prison staffs, on payment of bribes, would serve virtually every demand placed by some of these outlaws.
Jail sources said many top terrors do not eat the simple food provided by the authorities. For some of them, three meals a day come from the outside – sometimes from their houses and sometimes from expensive restaurants. The associates of some of these criminals bribe a group prison staffs to get the food in.
On days that food cannot be brought from the outside, many criminals have rice cookers and pressure cookers in their cells with which their cellmates, acting much like their servants, cook their food. Once again, the staff supply them the meat, vegetables and grocery.
They have blender machines too with which they make fruit juice for having in breakfast. They also get tea and coffee to drink whenever they want.
A couple of years ago, the Manikganj jail authority recovered a laptop from top listed criminal inmate Arman’s possession. Sources said the laptops are used for recreational purposes such as watching movies and pornography, listening to music, and so on.
In a recent drive at the Kashimpur High Security Central Jail in Gazipur last Monday, authorities recovered 10 pen drives from various cells. The drives were all full of movies and songs.
Police said some criminals watched and listened to them on laptops while many others possessed latest and expensive smartphones.
The Dhaka Tribune recently talked to one Mohammad Foysal, who has been an inmate at the Dhaka Central Jail since February 10 after being accused in a woman repression case.
He said much like a five-star hotel, all kinds of facilities of a cozy modern life are available on payment inside the jail.
Mohammad Uzzal, an inmate of the Kashimpur jail, told the Dhaka Tribune at the judge’s court premises in the capital that: “Everything is possible inside the jail. Those who have money can get anything they want – comfortable bed, table, chair, imported cigarette, better diet, cell phones, and so on.”
Another inmate of the Dhaka jail said a single bed inside would cost Tk3,500-Tk10,000 per week. The jail staff would share the money among them. For a host of other amenities such as chair-table and additional space, the inmates have to pay Tk12,000-Tk15,000 per week.
For those who cannot afford cell phones of their own, the jail staff offer their own phones at excruciatingly high charges ranging from Tk20-Tk30 per minute for talking to their relatives.
Inspector General (Prisons) Brig Gen Syed Iftekhar Uddin told the Dhaka Tribune: “Whenever we learn about such irregularities inside the jails, we conduct raids. And such raids would continue from now on. The Detective Branch is currently investigating how these things get inside the jail and whether any jail staff is involved with it or not. We are giving DB all kinds of cooperation.”