LARKANA, June 27: More than 100 prisoners climbed up the roofs of central prison and the rest burnt their bed sheets inside the barracks on Wednesday in protest against police’s failure to produce them in courts.
The protest was triggered at about 9:00 am reportedly by police’s discrimination in favour of a few selected prisoners whom they were taking to court while majority of prisoners had been waiting to be produced in courts for more than half a year.
Jail Superintendent Abubakar Shaikh confirmed that the prisoners did climb up the roofs and burnt bed sheets, but insisted the number of inmates who went up the roof was not more than 20 while the sources in jail put the number at over 100.
Mr Shaikh said that the jail had at present around 700 prisoners belonging to Qambar-Shahdadkot district and majority of faced charges of heinous crimes.
Prisoners reacted angrily and stared raising slogans when they learnt that a prison van from Qambar insisted to take only a few selected prisoners for production in courts.
The protesting prisoners called for equal facilities of transport for all as the majority had not been produced in courts since months and the delay was affecting their cases.
The protest was natural and the prisoners were not at fault because many of the prisoners belonging to Qambar-Shahdadkot district had not been produced in courts for six months, Mr Shaikh admitted.
The jail management tried to bring the situation under control through dialogues but the protesters did not listen to them, the sources said and added that after talks’ failure the jail superintendent sought help of the DPO of Qambar who promised sending police in future on a regular basis to ensure production of prisoners in courts.
The assurance worked and persuaded prisoners to end protest at 12:30 pm after about three hours, Mr Shaikh said and added that the situation was now completely under control.
UNCLAIMED BODIES: Police on Wednesday removed unclaimed bodies of two young men spotted by villagers in fields near Lal Bakhsh Bhatti village and the Wagan road.
Police also found a mobile phone lying beside one of the dead near Wagan.
There were no visible signs of torture on both the bodies, police said.
PEASANT KILLED: Ibrahim Kuriyo, a peasant working on Mumtaz Ali Bhutto’s land, was killed and his son Bakhshal Kuriyo and two others were injured in a clash over a land dispute in Burira village on Wednesday.
Reports reaching here said that Ibrahim Kuriyo who had purchased a piece of land from Bashir Phulpoto clashed with Mr Bashir accusing him of deceit in land’s measurement.
The injured Bakhshal Kuriyo and Ali Ahmed Kuriyo who were moved to hospital in Naudero blamed Bashir Phulpoto for instigating the clash which led to his father’s death.
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