GUJRAT, Nov 27: The district jail, constructed for 377 prisoners, at present houses some 1,087 inmates.

It is learnt that there are about 103 condemned prisoners in 16 cells which can accommodate 48. According to rules, condemned prisoners should be kept in separate cells, but the jail authorities have locked two to three convicts in each cell.

The women portion can accommodate only 20 women but it has 44 inmates either facing trial or undergoing conviction.

A jail employee on the condition of anonymity told Dawn that an inordinate delay in disposing of cases by the courts was the main cause of overcrowding in the jail.

Jail superintendent Majeed Qureshi admitted that the jail was overcrowded. He said an amount of Rs8 million was needed for the construction of two new barracks to house another 300 prisoners.

“We have been converting the jail godown into a barrack for women inmates on self-help basis,” he said.

When asked about the Mandi Bahauddin jail break, the superintendent said a departmental inquiry had been completed in this regard. He said the Mandi district and sessions judge was also conducting a judicial probe into the incident.

ARRESTED: Three outlaws, including a fugitive, were arrested from their hideout in Haji Muhammad, Lalamusa, on Tuesday.

The Gujrat SSP told newsmen that the Lalamusa Saddar police arrested three outlaws from Haji Muhammad. One of them was later identified as Nasir Iqbal who had escaped from the Mandi Bahauddin district jail on Oct 24. The two others were identified as proclaimed offenders Waqar Ahmad and Nawaz.

A spokesman for the Gujrat police said some 11 prisoners involved in cases of heinous nature had escaped from the Mandi jail after taking a jail official hostage last month.

He said five of the fugitives — Ausaf, Jehangir, Ghulam Azad, Qamar Abbas and Arshad — were rearrested by Mandi police while two others, Nasir Mehmood and Iqbal, were arrested by the Gujrat police. Arshad, Ejaz, Shabbir and Nazir were still at large, he said.

Meanwhile, the SSP dismissed from service 10 policemen for showing negligence in duty.

Those sacked are SI Zulfiqar Ahmad and constables Moazzam Ali, Yousaf, Saleem Akhtar, Ghulam Shabbir, Sajjad, Rafiq, Sajjad Ahmad, Mustasam and Zafar.