KARACHI: Dozens of inmates have taken two policemen and a prison worker hostage in southern Pakistan in a protest against plans to transfer them to other jails, the provincial prisons chief said Sunday.

Some 1,200 inmates at Larkana prison, 350 kilometres (217 miles) northeast of Karachi, were being moved to other facilities on the high court's orders to allow for repairs at their jail, Ghulam Qadir Thebo told AFP.

“The trouble started late Saturday when prisoners were being moved to other prisons of Sindh province. Some inmates refused to leave and clashed with police and jail staff,” Thebo said.

Some 450 prisoners remained in Larkana when a group of about 40 prisoners took two policemen and a prison worker hostage, demanding that all prisoners should return.

“We are negotiating the release of hostages,” Thebo said.

In March police killed seven inmates and wounded 20 during an operation to prevent a jail-break in a prison in the southern city of Hyderabad.