In the wake of the murders of two foreign nationals, law enforcement authorities have taken special measures to ensure security of the foreigners inside jail.
During a press conference in his Nazimuddin Road office in Old Dhaka Thursday, Brig Gen Sayed Iftekhar Uddin, inspector general of prisons (IG Prisons), told reporters that the foreign nationals are safe inside the various jails in the country.
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“Their lifestyle and culture are different from Bangladeshi prisoners. So we have kept them in separate cells, detached from regular prisoners.”
At present, there is a total of 514 foreign nationals in the 68 jails across the country. Of them, 73 are awaiting release. Of these 73 foreign nationals, 55 are Indians, 14 are from Myanmar, two Nepalese and two Pakistanis.
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Explaining why it sometimes takes time to release the foreign national inmates, the IG prisons said: “Many foreign nationals give false address during registration as prisoners. When time of their release comes, we send the information given by them to relevant ministries for verification. We release them only after verification.”
He also said that against the current capacity of 34,681, the 68 jails in the country are housing more than 71,000 inmates. Around 70% of them are currently undergoing trial in various courts.
