RAWALPINDI: Centuries-old handcuffs used to restrain prisoners can be unlocked using the refill of a ballpoint pen and a key fashioned from cigarette foil.

Although a restrained individual is easier for police guards to control, most prisoners do not wear handcuffs, putting them side when prisoner vans leave the jail premises.

At least two handcuffed under trial prisoners have escaped police custody in the Rawalpindi district this month. Ahmed Ali, alias Saddam, from Taxila escaped on July 19, while Zeeshan Ishaq escaped police custody while being produced in court on July 21. Neither of the escaped suspects has been found.

Putting hardened prisoners in shackles is restricted to prior permission from the inspector general of prisons and a sessions judge, which may also increase the risk of escape.

Rawalpindi region Deputy Inspector General of Prisons Shahid Saleem Baig, when asked about the use of old restraints and their role in the escapes from police custody, attributed the escapes to the old handcuffs and negligence on the part of police officials.

Handcuffs play a major role in the escape of under trial prisoners, as these restraints can be unlocked easily with a ball pen, and the police guarding the prisoners are equally responsible, he said.

Mr Baig said new “baby handcuffs” have also been introduced alongside the use of old handcuffs. He said these new handcuffs cannot be unlocked easily.

According to a police official who was guarding under trial prisoners, 300 to 400 such prisoners are brought from jail for case proceedings every day, but there are only 90 policemen to guard them.

He said as soon as the prison van leaves the jail premises, the prisoners remove their cuffs and keep them aside even though the keys are with the guards.

“The centuries-old handcuffs are useless, as they can be unlocked with a simple pen refill and the foil from a cigarette pack,” he said. He added that the police officials guarding the prisoners are also afraid of them, because the prisoners start shouting when they are forced to obey the guards.

“Sometimes the under trial prisoners use abusive language towards judges and policemen, so nobody risks engaging with them on any issue,” the police official said. He said the prisoners are not afraid of anything, since they are already facing murder charges and say bluntly that nothing is above capital punishment, which they are already facing.

When asked how the police handle violent prisoners, he said: “We beg them to behave well, because we too are low paid government employees and would be dismissed from service if they create problems.”

“When under trial prisoners are being transported, it looks as if the policemen are the accused prisoners,” the police official claimed, adding that he never knew if he would return home safely after his duty.

He added that prisoners sometimes lock themselves in temporary lockup facilities when they are brought from prison to attend their case proceedings and refuse to appear before the court.

If they are then forced to unlock the facility, the prisoners start shouting loudly and create panic, he said, and police officials have no choice but to do as the prisoners say in such a situation.

A police official told Dawn that some police officials prefer to be deployed with prominent government officials being tried by the National Accountability Bureau, or drug smugglers behind tried by special courts, as they grease their palms while being escorted to court.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2017