Sylhet Bureau:-
Prisoners in the Sylhet metro area are finally being released from their suffering. Sylhet Central Jail-2 is set to be officially opened on Sunday, February 23.
On February 16, the Deputy Inspector General of Prisons of Sylhet Division, in a letter signed by him, instructed the Senior Jail Superintendent of Sylhet Central Jail to take necessary action.
According to prison sources, Sylhet Jail, located on the banks of Dhopa Dighi in the city, was established in 1789. Sylhet Jail was built on an area of 24.67 acres by the then British ruler's representative, John Wilson, the Collector of Sylhet. More than two hundred years after the construction of the prison, the prison was shifted to the Badaghat area outside the city. But problems also arose with prisoners from the district and metro areas in the new prison. According to the rules, prisoners from the district and metro areas are supposed to be kept separately. According to experts, the prisoners from the villages are quite simple. They mostly come to the prison as accused in theft, land disputes, etc. from the villages. And most of the prisoners from the metro areas are accused in political, robbery, kidnapping and drug cases. When the prisoners from the villages face the accused from the metro area, many of them get involved in various crimes after hearing the stories from the criminals. As a result, they need to be kept separate.
Sylhet Divisional Prison Deputy Inspector General Md. Chhagir Mia said that the Security Services Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs had decided to open Sylhet Central Jail-2 for prisoners from the metropolitan area on September 9, 2018. But for unknown reasons, that process stalled. After the fall of the government, a new initiative was taken on December 18 last year. In that context, on February 4, the Prisons Department issued an order to open "Sylhet Central Jail-2". According to that order, finally on February 23, the old central jail in Dhopadighipara of Sylhet city will now start its activities under the name 'Sylhet Central Jail-2'.
Meanwhile, the relatives and inmates of the prisoners have expressed satisfaction with the opening of 'Sylhet Central Jail-2'. From now on, prisoners of the metropolitan area will no longer have to go to Badaghat in the suburbs. They will be brought to the court from the newly opened Sylhet Central Jail-2. In the meantime, Deputy Inspector General of Prisons Md. Chhagir Mia has instructed the Senior Jail Superintendent of Sylhet Central Jail to take all such measures.
In a letter dated February 16, he said, "From February 23, after the appearance of the detainees in the courts of the Sylhet metro area, a request has been made to send them to Sylhet Jail-2 and to conduct all court proceedings of the detainees concerned from Jail-2 in phases."
In this regard, Sylhet Central Jail Jailer Md. Sakhawat Hossain said that the activities of Sylhet Central Jail-2 are already underway. From tomorrow, prisoners from the metro area will no longer have to go to Badaghat Jail. They will be kept here.
